alaska just legalized mini trucks

And plenty of Alaskans have quietly been driving them for years.

Alaska just changed the rules on those little Japanese trucks and vans, the ones people call KAY trucks. Thanks to a new state law, the older ones can finally be registered and titled as fully road legal.

If you've never seen one, picture a pickup shrunk down to almost golf-cart cuteness, but tough enough to haul real loads. Owners run them for grocery trips, camping hauls, hunting gear, you name it.

The catch is age. To even bring one into the country, it has to be at least twenty-five years old, so these are older imports with some history to them. Before this law, the state wouldn't fully register them, so owners were stuck with limited, at-their-own-risk time on the road.

One Alaska owner says his little 1995 hauler has basically taken over from his big full-size truck with the plow, which now sits parked most of the time. He's got it decked out with a cargo carrier, a camera, even a truck-bed tent.

In a state where a full-size truck costs a fortune, a tiny one that still hauls is a real draw. There's still some paperwork to sort out on the older imports, but for anyone who's wanted a cheap, capable little truck, they're finally street legal here.