Just back from my trip to the Caribbean. Visited St. Thomas, St. John and the BVIs.Don't worry, I didn't spend my time looking at cars the whole time--just about 5 minutes worth of camera clicking at the marina on Virgin Gorda captured a number of vehicles and manufacturers that I was not previously aware of. Most of the cars were small and looked cheap--but their oddness struck me right away as I'm fairly in tune with anything that might be found on a North American road.
Oh, and one more comment here...the vehicles you see are all left hand drive--though they are driven on the left hand side of the road. All vehicles in the Virgin Islands (American or British) drive on the left side of the road. Having rented a car for three days on this past vacation allowed me to retrain my brain in this thinking. It really wasn't confusing at all. Took a few extra seconds at intersections and had to dispel the whole "right on red" thinking but, really not so bad--now all the chickens and iguanas in the roads?? Those are a whole other story...
This vehicle is a 2nd generation Daihatsu Terios. Beginning production in '06, this co-Toyota produced vehicle (known as the Toyota Rush in some markets) is available in 2WD or 4WD and is powered by a whopping 1.3 or 1.5 liter engine and weighs nearly 2,600 pounds. The 1.5L engine puts out a whopping 103 HP and 140 ft. lb. and the vehicle goes for a price starting over $22K in the U.K. and would be about the same in the BVIs. That's a lot of coin for what is a VERY small, minimally powered vehicle. Thanks...but no thanks...
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