Omniscient is the word to describe the singularly typical presence of this nimble chariot which can be seen buzzing along daily in most major thoroughfares like busy commercial districts, public or market squares, or better yet, preferably anywhere you can think of. But perhaps, automakers involved in the production of these cars are hell-bent on creating a clone army (much like in the movie Star Wars) smacked-dab for a wholesale invasion of the Philippine archipelago as a heavy volume of these work fleets can be spotted most days of the week casually careening down in highway roads.

Moreover, the Mitsubishi L-300 is also by far, one of the oldest workhorses employed in the service-vehicle category with a track record of an unprecedented 30-something-plus years since its introduction in the Philippine car market scene way back in 1987. Whew, way older than even the iconic Nokia 2110 one of the first mobile phone variants launched in 1993.

However, just one of the many enduring attributes of this tough-as-nails vehicle is its unrelenting stellar performance in the express shipping service.

But before this article delves much further into this topic, we will take a brief glimpse at Mitsubishi L-300’s much forgotten but colorful piece of history.

Humble Beginnings

 According to a confirmed source, Mitsubishi Motors, the Japanese car manufacturer produced the first generation of the Mitsubishi L-300 variants in Nagoya, Japan as early as 1968, while the first of a series of productions involved the Mitsubishi Delica, a light commercial cab-over pick up oddly resembling a Match Box toy car but only in appearance.

But the engine feature of the Delica was built something else entirely different, however, as it never was a plaything, to begin with.

Taking into account those early pioneering automotive productions, there is that factor of limited technological applications to consider but that was never an issue and a hindrance from the start in coming up with a unique engine prototype to power up the first generation of these vehicles.  Fortunately, Mitsubishi engineers at that time took even less than half the time in tinkering and coming up with the Mitsubishi KE engine, which was quite remarkably considered even by industry specification standards of today, as being way ahead of its time during that period.

Moreover, the Mitsubishi KE engine is a highly specialized array of engines manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors during the 60s and early 70s. 

The KE engines (first produced in 1963) were virtually constructed overhead-valve iron blocks designed for various Colt-branded automobiles that gulp on diesel and gasoline fuel.

Thus, the early Delica variants were powered with KE44 1,088 cc engine producing 58 PS (43 kW) wherein the maximum payload was 600 kg (1,323 lb) and had a top-end speed of 115 km/h (71 mph) on the runway.

Not bad for a car that looks much more or less than a Match Box, er, toy?

Go figure, but aside from a history of reliable longevity, the Mitsubishi L-300 as mentioned earlier was an indispensable asset in the express shipping business. How come?

Well, according to the Mitsubishi Motors website, the year 2021 was justly celebrated with a bang coupled with a mouth-watering revenue infusion roll out of 200,000 units of L-300’s to be used primarily for small to medium-sized businesses(SME’s). Proof of a robust market demand even at the time of the pandemic.

What’s more, the Mitsubishi L-300 had become the official carrier transport of Transportify Philippines, (TP) a leading logistics service provider in the country that caters to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) as mentioned earlier.  

To provide service to growing market demand, TP had handpicked the Mitsubishi L-300 as the sole official transport carrier since starting its logistics operations in July 2016. The L-300 FB van can carry out delivery operations in a nick of time transporting apparel, appliances, and even most home and work equipment but most importantly, the L300 van is considered the best vehicle for regular delivery operations according to TP because it can carry loads of up to 1000kg ideally suited for other industries as well such as the food and construction enterprises. Likewise, the Mitsubishi L-300 FB van has a heavily insulated closed-body construction that protects the quality of the products or merchandise from the harsh weather elements thereby ensuring safe and efficient delivery of the items to its intended beneficiaries.

Now there, this article has tackled just some of the pros of owning a Mitsubishi L-300 FB van, and thus far, this amiable workhorse has a rosy future ahead particularly in the service department as TP would eventually receive, as of this writing, an unconfirmed part from the substantial amount of funding close to a jaw-dropping $14 million in sale revenues gathered from its dual-parent company, Deliveree, a logistic service company based in Indonesia and also one from the Thailand firm.

Indeed, the Mitsubishi L-300 is in far longer than the expected long haul that is about to happen but that dear friends, is another part of the story that we care not to divulge at the moment as the wait is inevitably a surprise worth waiting for.