Mann's Model Moments
FineMolds 1/35th scale IJA Field Kitchen Unit and Type 97 Movable boiler
FineMolds 1/35th scale IJA Field Kitchen Unit and Type 97 Movable boiler
The Type 95 was a Japanese scout car built by Tokyu Kurogane Industries (Tōkyū Kurogane Kōgyō), and was used during the war with China and World War II in the East. Between 1936 and 1944 approximately 4,700 were built. It was the only completely Japanese designed reconnaissance car ever used by the Imperial Japanese Army, which tended to use civilian cars. Its nickname is the "Yonki" which in Japanese means "all-wheel drive". In the field, soldiers often called it the "daruma" after the Buddhist symbol for good luck.
It is one of the world's first four-wheel drive passenger vehicle placed into mass production, prior to the Laffly V15 (1937-1938), the GAZ-61 (1938) and Willys MB "jeep" (1941).
The Type 95 accommodated three people - two in the front and one in the back. The two-cylinder, V-twin, four-stroke, air-cooled gasoline engine, which developed 33 PS (24 kW; 33 hp) at 3,300 rpm, was an advantage in cold climates found in China, and had 4-wheel drive, using a gearshift activated transfer case to engage the front wheels. It was manufactured without weapons and unarmored. It had advantages over the Type 97 motorcycle used by the Japanese Army, which had much less off-road mobility, and so limited troop mobility. It had tall wheels which helped it to travel over rough terrain, mud and snow.