The American RV industry is going through a bit of a recent trend where buyers are demanding smaller, more maneuverable motorhomes that can fit in parking spaces while still being big on space. The result has been surprisingly tiny motorhomes that pack a huge punch, but some are still quite expensive. Here’s another option. This imported 1997 Isuzu Elf 150 is about 17 feet long, or shorter than some half-ton pickup trucks. It fits in regular parking spaces and perhaps the coolest feature: it can sleep your whole family. But before you get excited, there’s a bit of an issue you’ll need to consider.
Picture a motorhome in your head. If you’re like countless Americans, what you picture to be a motorhome is something gargantuan like a Prevost or a Newell Coach. These lumbering giants have their place, but an increasing number of Americans are saying no to driving coach bus-style motorhomes. Instead, people want motorhomes that drive closer to a van or a pickup truck. They want a motorhome that fits in a regular parking space and could be stored at home. However, these people also want to keep the interior spacious.
The RV industry has responded with coaches like the Wingamm Oasi 540.1 and the Thor Quantum SE19. But these coaches sit in a sort of weird spot. Ones that are built to a high standard like the Wingamm cost close to $200,000, while cheaper ones like the Thor could have issues over the long term. If you go used, you have some other interest choices. Here’s a really weird one. This 1997 Isuzu Elf 150 hails from Japan, but apparently it’s ready to camp right here in America.
From Japan’s Biggest Camper Van Builder
It’s often pretty difficult to pinpoint the history of Japanese RV companies. While Japanese RV companies use English to name their vehicles– this one is the Annex TRY-X MAX E-5.3–you’ll have a hard time finding much information. You will find either one person in America selling the vehicle or archived listings in Japan, but not what the heck an “Annex” is or what “MAX E-5.3” means. But, look, I don’t like writing something unless I can tell you something informative about the vehicle.
In this case, this camper was built by the Annex Corporation in Japan. It’s a company that’s still around today and still building cute RVs based on cabover trucks. Something I love about Japanese companies is that they’re usually very happy to describe their histories in pretty good detail. Here’s what the Annex Corporation says about itself, translated roughly from Japanese:
1964: Tanaka Shuji, our founder, established Tanaka Automobile Trading Co. in Higashi-ku, Osaka (now Chuo-ku). The company
sold and repaired cars.
1967: The company moved to Tsurumi-ku, Osaka. The company began bodywork painting.
1976: The Osaka store opened near the factory. The name was changed to Auto Body Shop Tanaka.
1987: The Tokushima factory opened in Asue-gun, Tokushima Prefecture (now Yoshinogawa City). The site area was 2300 m2.
1990: Zero Product Co., Ltd. was established to manufacture and sell FRP products on a 5,000 m2 plot of land adjacent to the Tokushima factory. Tanaka Shoichi was appointed representative director.
1994: Zero Product Co., Ltd. took over the business of Auto Body Shop Tanaka, and at the same time changed its name to Annex Co., Ltd.
Pretty cool, right?
Today, Annex calls itself the largest camper van producer in Japan and its flagship model is the Liberty, a cabover commercial truck-based camper that looks a lot like what you see here today. I found a vintage advertisement for the Liberty, which shows two cowboys plus a mix of Japanese and English.
From what I can make out, in the mid-to-late 1990s, Annex advertised its campers as having a mix of American and European technologies but with Japanese design. The company says the structures of its RVs are made of aluminum and you’ll find fiberglass panels on the outside. When Annex talks about the whole American and European stuff, it’s talking about a three-way refrigerator from the Japanese division of Electrolux (Sweden) and a furnace plus hot water combo from Truma (Germany.) The brochure also mentions American parts, but doesn’t say what they are.
The brochure says that the Liberty wasn’t just a great choice for Japanese RVers, but potentially RVers in Europe, too. Of course, none of these rigs ever made it to America.
The MAX series, which this camper comes from, is the predecessor to the Liberty, which explains why they look so similar. According to the way Annex named its MAX series, the letter and number combination that came after “MAX” indicated platform and length. A MAX H-5.3 meant Toyota HiAce and 5.3 meters long, or 17.4 feet long. Annex also sold a MAX D-4.8, which meant a 4.8-meter-long Mitsubishi Delica camper.
This Annex TRY-X MAX E-5.3
This camper is a MAX E-5.3, which means it’s based on an Isuzu Elf and spans 5.3 meters. The one part of the name of this camper I’m unsure about is the “TRY-X” bit. From what I can tell, TRY-X was a Japanese seller of home goods, so was this camper the result of a collaboration? Sadly, I could not figure out for sure. Annex sold TRY-X-branded campers in different sizes in the 1990s.
The truck underneath is a 1997 Isuzu Elf 150, a vehicle that we know of as the Isuzu NPR or the Chevrolet W-series here in America. This Elf comes from the truck’s fifth generation, which launched in 1993. You’ve likely seen trucks like these in America doing lawn care or local deliveries. Sadly, despite some general commonality with the trucks that were sold in America, this 1997 Elf 150 has the Japan-only 3.1-liter 4JG2 four-cylinder indirect injection diesel. At its hottest, this engine makes 114 HP and it was found in SUVs like the Isuzu Bighorn. You’ll also find them in Prowell forklifts.
What you won’t often find in America is an Isuzu cabover with a camper on it, but that’s what’s offered here by the MAX E-5.3.
The seller of this motorhome, JDM Car & Motorcycle LLC of Shoreline, Washington, claims the unit is about as minty as you’d find from Japan. The dealer says the auction it bought the camper from graded it as a 4, or the second-highest grade an old vehicle can get in the Japanese auction system. Usually, vehicles graded with a 4 should be in better than regular daily driver condition. However, the Japanese auction grading system can be a little chaotic sometimes, so it always helps to inspect a vehicle before spending your cash on it.
As noted earlier, the body of this motorhome is mostly fiberglass and it measures in at just a touch over 17 feet, which makes it shorter than many trucks and vans. The Isuzu underneath is said to have a part-time 4×4 system with locking hubs and an automatic transmission.
The motorhome appears to be in great condition with no visible rust on the metal cab and clean fiberglass on the camper body. I could believe the grade 4 claim. Even the camper’s graphics are all intact, which is pretty great.
Enter through the camper’s left entry door and bask in a surprisingly roomy interior. The seller gives us more details:
AC work perfect.
Plenty of windows all with fly-screens.
Camper has double bed over cab.
Table with sitting area that converts into a bed. Plenty of high storage.
3 way fridge (DC 12v/120 AC/propane)
Center of camper has a sink and location for a propane stove to be added.
Camper has central hot air heating, propane and water heater.
Has outside awning.
Outside of camper has storage compartments, and storage for propane tank.
Ladder up to roof. Spare tire.
Internal inverter to power 110-125V electrics. External power connection that also charges camper battery and powers 12v internals via a second built in inverter.
Great fuel economy! 17- 24mpg.
Interior Specs: This RV will sleep up to -6 people, has a overhead sleeping area, and also a dinette,. which fold into another Large sleep area.
A Couple Of Big Caveats
One thing I’m not a fan of is the fact that someone deleted the camper’s wet bath, and instead decided to use the bathroom space as storage. Presumably, you can add a bathroom back in if you want to, but for now, there’s just the empty room and a cassette toilet where the shower used to be. That being said, some readers have voiced that bathrooms aren’t a huge deal for them, so maybe it’s not a big deal.
Allegedly, the RV also has a refrigerator and an inverter capable of running the voltages of appliances you find here in the United States. One important piece of information missing is whether this system is running 50Hz or 60Hz, both of which are used in Japan. The country also uses 100V for its electrical system, so the listing might be suggesting that the motorhome’s electrical system has been upgraded. Usually, you cannot just buy any Japanese RV and expect your American appliances to plug in and work just fine. So, you’ll want to inspect all of this before buying.
Something I like about the interior is that it really does appear to be in excellent condition. The cab area looks like it was barely ever sat in! But I suppose the RV wasn’t used a whole lot. The dealership claims a verified 57,250 miles, which comes out to an average of barely over 2,000 miles a year.
Aside from the missing bathroom and the big question mark about the electrical system, I do spot everything else you’ll need, including a cooker, refrigerator, and a sink, which is good. Of course, with so few ponies on tap, don’t expect to thunder through the Rockies at 80 mph.
I’m feeling pretty conflicted over the price. The dealership wants $37,950 for the motorhome. On one hand, the dealer is asking top dollar for a Japanese motorhome that’s missing a big feature. On the other hand, the motorhome is in pretty darn great condition. If it turns out that someone went ahead and converted this thing to run on the U.S. electrical grid, that’s also an incredibly huge plus. But, oof, $37,950 also buys a good used American camper. Last year, a somewhat similar Elf-based camper sold on Bring-a-Trailer for $24,500, though it doesn’t seem to be in quite the same condition.
At the very least, this rig is something different. It costs a fraction of a Wingamm, has a build quality that’s likely quite high, and the odds are you won’t likely find another at a campsite. I feel like the best kind of buyer for this 1997 Annex TRY-X MAX E-5.3 is someone who will tinker with their camper, anyway, and wants a neat base. And this little guy is very neat.
Add me to the list of people that see the lack of a wet bath as a plus. I don’t know anyone that actually showers in their RV bath. For us an toilet is a must but a shower is not.
This looks like it would be a lot of fun for little road trips, but I’d have wanted the bathroom, I think. At least it includes something somewhat toilet-adjacent.
I have wanted one of these cab over campers forever. Love this thing!
Loving the Tom Waits reference. 🙂
Purely coincidentally, I’m listening to Small Change as I read this article, but I can’t find the reference..? Did I subconsciously decide to listen to Waits as I was reading because of some hidden subliminal message? I’ve got a bad liver and a broken heart, but that reference might be the one that got away. Then again, my piano has been drinking.
Mercedes, I think it is high time an Autopian factory tour!
Since Isuzu collaborates with GM on Duramax, I wonder if the I4 has any resemblance to the Duramax I4?
I mean, from what I understand the 4WD is preferred for people who want to use these rigs as an alternative to getting a room if you like winter sports and travel to ski resorts.
The removal of the bathroom is VERY much due to Japan’s many rest-stops with top notch toilets and more then likely the amount of onsens and lack of public bathing in general. You can get a decent 24 toilet there and bathing doesn’t require a 24-Fitness membership. Thank you TABI-IE and Kuopi-Live (Formerly Coupy Channel) for showing me that part of RVing in Japan.
EDIT: Lack of taboos on public bathing.
I watch enough Japanese moto camping videos on youtube to know that you can basically find a public bath or onsen near most campgrounds.
Neat rig!
Having to pull this head in to some camping spots may be a deal breaker for some. American RV’s have their hookups opposite this. Most campsites practically require backing in as a (sometimes very entertaining) result. It’s probably not a big deal given the size. Smaller campers like this can get creative with parking and fit into spaces in ways that larger units could only dream about.
May I point out that this rig looks pretty good inside because of some new patio quality furniture pads that probably cost less than $100 total. The equivalent of putting racing stripes on a Yugo. That plus questionable electric setup and no bathroom seems a typical dealer thinking he can screw the right person over for big profits. You only need one pigeon.
Lived in Tokyo for a number of years. If you like campers you have to visit the Tokyo camper show. So many of them are designed similar to boats. All the space is used, and attractive.
At 5’11 I find these a bit small to be comfortable in. Beds are a bit short and ceilings a bit low. My Vanagon Westy suits much better. My 5’ tall daughter has no issues.
“This RV will sleep up to -6 people”
I was looking for something for a family of 3. Guess I’ll have to pass and let a family 9 people smaller get it
In 2017 I came across a couple from Chile doing the whole Tierra del Fuego to Anchorage trek in a similar rig. Theirs was Mitsubishi-based, and smaller, but still roomy.
Very cool, but the deleted bath is a deal breaker at that price. It would need to be significantly cheaper to offset the cost of converting it back.
I was interested when it looked like it was the familiar (to America) Isuzu cabover truck that you could potentially get parts/service on in any town where delivery or landscaping trucks exist.
Yes, it would have been a huge bonus if it was based on the 3.9L NPR. Great little engines, superior to the 4BT in many ways.
I had a friend who started with a Chevy NPR chassis cab with the 350 small block, converted it to 4WD, and built a complete RV on the back.
Feature is that it fits in a parking spot. First picture in the article is of it not being parked in said parking spot. Sounds fitting
Really fits in a parking spot? In the US people park so bad even a motorcycle doesn’t fit in a parking spot. Plus how much room is available on both sides after a perfect parking job?
Yes people park very, very badly here. With this RV, there probably isn’t much room left. With most new trucks, also not very much room left. I drive a Mazda3 hatch so I have plenty of room but its always everybody else I worry about
I would hope there’s a decent way to access the engine since it doesn’t look like this cab tilts forward, that was my biggest concern reading this article. Most of the cabover Isuzu trucks I’ve seen here had a tilt-forward cab for engine maintenance.
Access is from under the seats according to a little googling. The passenger seat flips up for access to basic maintenance like fluid fillers. More involved work requires unbolting the driver seat too.
I always wanted to see what it’s like to drive an Izusu NPR. Every time I see one of these small-to-middlin cabover trucks driving around, I can’t help but think ‘hey, that’s sort of neat.’ They seem right-sized for a lot of things, and more efficient (and cuter) than the average boring box truck seen everywhere and all the time.
If pressed, I guess I’d have to admit that I’d rather have the engine in front of me (instead of under me) in a serious head-on collision, but getting more usable space for people/cargo is tempting…
Our camper is a Vanagon Westfalia Syncro. Similar cabover design makes parking incredibly easy. The NPR is cool, but I don’t think crash safety was considered. The Vanagon has impressive crash structures, incidentally.
The Vanagon isn’t a cabover design, but rather forward-control.
“Cabover” is short for cab-over-engine.
Frankly the cab over rides like a bucking bronco terrible ride
I spent about 5 summers driving them around for my high school and college summer jobs. They aren’t exactly comfortable since you’re sitting on top of the front wheels. You do have excellent forward visibility though and the turning radius is pretty small for what they are if I remember correctly.
Thanks for the replies! 🙂
I had a ’79 VW camper where you’re sitting on top of the front wheels and it never went fast enough for me to develop an appreciation for its ride quality, other than to say it did manage pretty well on miles and miles of dirt logging roads in British Columbia. Of course, all you have for crash protection in front of your feet is a single spare tire and some thin sheetmetal, but I was young and immortal back then. 😉
Also, I drove the Toyota Van my boss owned for a year or two when I was maybe 20 years old. You sat atop the front wheels of that too if I recall correctly, though it felt sturdier than my ’79 VW camper and it was surprisingly swift too. Good brakes too from what I can remember of the Hutchinson River Parkway.
I just have to give Peter a big shoutout for the completely perfectly played Gen-X new wave tagline here!
No bathroom is a plus and the electrical is not an issue I think getting use to right hand steering wheel in something this big would be the learning curve issue.
I guess everyone is different, but I don’t find RHD in the US to be difficult. Granted, that’s in a smaller Land Rover 90, but it shouldn’t be that big of an issue.
More annoying would be the headlamp pattern being wrong, so it would be good to source some US-spec units
Hi, I’m Joe Isuzu, here with the biggest, most powerful camper on the American market, that also has the lowest markup!
It would be nice if they showed you that engine access is possible. I don’t think the cab lifts with that fiberglass on top maybe you can pull the seats. I’ve always been surprised no one has taken an american market cab over and done this kind of thing. I guess it does freak alot of people out being in front of the wheels. You see these on the Japanese import sites sometimes but the shipping is crazy expensive. That guy is asking way too much though. He probably has $12k to -$ 17k in it.
When I think of COE trucks, I think utility – loud, harsh ride, not powered/geared well for highway use, etc. So it’s not a platform I would be thinking would make a good RV. So while some are concerned about RHD and lack of shower, I’m concerned that it would be an unpleasant driver.
Those NPR’s aren’t to bad but you definitely know you are in a truck. Not as bone shaking as those old American COE were. The last one I drove was pretty gutless but I’ve been told the newer ones have gotten better. The Europeans have air ride on the cabs so they ride pretty smooth I know Ford did that in at least some their later COEs as well. I’m not sure if freightliner did.
I like this thing, but the RHD makes it a hard pass. My brain just isn’t wired to drive from the wrong side of the car. Tried it once – didn’t go well.
For me, a better option might be to import one of these and graft it onto a US spec chassis. That would be a fun project for after I retired. (So, never…)
That would also get you an engine that’s easier to source parts for. A good number of these have LSs from the factory.
If you’re going through all that trouble you might as well source a Chinook or Sunrader body, somewhat common in the states. Way down at the bottom of my bucket list is to transplant a Sunrader body onto a Super Duty.
I like your plan!
For me it would probably be better to just buy an old GMC or Vixen, but I can dream.
There is a good chance it was bought from Japan for a song, detailed a little and then marked way, way up. It looks like a unique and top-quality little rig. No dice at this price, though. Modify the electrical system to US standards and knock off fifteen grand and it’ll sell.
It looks like about $15K in Japan. Spitballing $5K for roro shipping and another $5K for customs and tariff (does chicken tax apply to RVs?) still leaves a fat profit on top at $38K.
That’s a fine looking machine. And those Isuzu diesels are known for their durability, although I’m not sure if this particular model is similar to the ones in gen sets and trailer reefers. If RHD drive was an issue, you could probably swap parts from a similar vintage US version Isuzu truck although that’s a serious amount of labor to accomplish.
The elephant in the room is RHD. Also from what I have been seeing 37k isn’t what 37k used to mean. FFS 45 year old VW campers with merde engines at $30k. And last but not least: when it breaks something in Manitoba where am I getting the part to fix it. I guess I would be comfortable waiting for UPS to bring me the part from eBay Japan
The elephant is parts availability, unless the mechanicals are all the same as the Elfs they sell here. RHD is not a big deal, especially for the mostly highway cruising these will be doing.
If anything, RHD might be somewhat beneficial in close quarters maneuvering, such as if you ever have to parallel park it