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If you want to experience Japanese car culture, you don’t need to break the bank on an ultra-rare Nissan Skyline GT-R variant. The JDM scene contains multitudes, and most of the coolest stuff is now available to import under the 25-year-rule. You’ll be hard pressed to find something more Japanese than this 2000 Mitsubishi Pajero Mini Snoopy Edition listed on Bring a Trailer, but it probably won’t drain your savings, and somebody else has already done the work of importing it to the U.S.
Snoopy is, as they say, big in Japan, rivaling homegrown animated characters in popularity. He’s popular enough that Japanese drivers want to express their love with their choice of car. The Snoopy Edition wears special graphics, including plenty of depictions of its namesake, cute paw print mud flaps, and what looks like Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz’s signature, over Soft White and Silver Metallic two-tone paint. Snoopy also appears on the center caps of the 15-inch wheels, shod with 175/80 Yokohama Geolandar tires.
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Inside, Snoopy appears on the seat covers, in a collage on the door panels, and on the speedometer. Woodstock keeps him company on the tach. Aside from those details, the interior is pretty basic, but that’s typical of a kei car.
The Pajero Mini brought the styling of the Dakar-winning SUV known to us Americans as the Montero down to kei-car scale. This is the second-generation version, which was launched in 1998 to coincide with some loosening of the size restrictions in the kei-car rules and lasted all the way until 2012. Interestingly, this generation of Pajero Mini was also sold as the Nissan Kix (not to be confused with the Kicks), foreshadowing the alliance between the two automakers.
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Under the tiny hood is a tiny engine. The 659-cc turbocharged inline-three produces all of 51 horsepower, but keep in mind that both displacement and output are restricted under kei-car rules. The engine is coupled to a four-speed automatic transmission, along with a four-wheel drive system with two-speed transfer case that justifies the Pajero nomenclature. Suspension is independent up front, with a live axle at the back.
This car was acquired by its seller in Japan in 2025 and received some maintenance before being imported. Its odometer shows approximately 35,000 miles, but there’s some wear and tear in line with the car’s age, including a badly-faded Snoopy decal on the hood. The seller claims to have a clean Tennessee title in their name, but the ability to register kei cars for road use varies by state.
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Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
