Have you ever wanted to own a boat, but your car has less towing capability than a toddler on a tricycle? If so, you’re in luck, because a Japanese outdoor vehicle manufacturer has designed a diminutive trailer-cum-boat that you can simply back into the water.
Called the “MiniBig” by its manufacturer, Carinterior Takahashi, it measures just 12.5 feet bow-to-stern, the hitch adding another 23 inches. At only 76 inches tall from ground to roof and not even 5.5 feet wide, it can barely fit the maximum of three occupants that Takahashi says it can accommodate, presumably before buoyancy becomes an issue.
Because of its small size for a watercraft, it skirts many of the region’s boating regulations, meaning it can be operated without a license in some parts of the world. Its manufacturer says it can be propelled by mounting an outboard motor and, to be frank, we can’t imagine it moving easily with oars. They do advise against using it in oceans or rivers, probably because it appears to lack a keel.
Pricing starts at ¥2,280,000, or just over $20,000, and there’s an extensive options list that was sadly not translatable from the company’s website due to formatting issues. What little was written in English suggests two options to be Yamaha outboard motors at ¥103,800 and ¥135,000 each, or about $970 and $1,200 respectively, while “TV” and “DVD” features are relatively self-explanatory. For ¥98,000 (about $875) combined, though, we’re not sure that’s worthwhile. The value of the MiniBig altogether is questionable, since one could theoretically acquire a bass boat that seats four plus a trailer for a tenth its cost, but the ability to comfortably sleep two and stay out of the weather is hard to knock.
The Drive reached out to this neat little trailer’s manufacturer for additional information, and we will update if we receive a response.
In case living small ain’t your cup of tea, Lexus just announced a yacht 65 feet in length, and if speed is your thing, Mercedes does a kevlar racing boat. We suspect both are two to three degrees of magnitude more expensive, though.