There are big jeeps and little jeeps. The big jeeps are the traditional refurbished American army jeeps - sometimes called sarao after the now-defunct Manila workshop that originally made this type of jeepney - or the newer Isuzu trucks.
The smaller ones are a Cebuano invention called multicabs. This was originally - and still is - the name of a company in Cebu (on A S Fortuna in Mandaue), which first started importing used mini trucks from Japan. With an engine displacement of only 660 cc, these vehicles are called keitora ("light trucks") in Japan and are used mostly for deliveries or hauling plumbers and their gear. In Cebu we dress them up, make 'em look real nice, and use them as passenger jeeps or as pickups for ferrying the family to the mall. In fact, this has developed into an industry; Cebu exports multicabs not just to the rest of the Philippines, but to places as far away as Cuba.
The thing is, these vehicles, as well as the larger trucks, originate from Japan, and, as such, are right-hand drive vehicles. A Republic Act of the Philippines prohibits the operation of RHD vehicles and hence - and I didn't think it possible before I arrived in Cebu - RHD vehciles are routinely converted from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. All of the nice-looking jeeps will have been converted from RHD to LHD.
Apart from multicabs, the vehicles most commonly imported from Japan and converted to LHD are Isuzu diesel trucks. Almost all of the cool jeeps - the new and beautiful models featured in Lookin' Good - are Isuzu Elf trucks. In Japan these are referred to as 2-ton trucks, and are ubiquitous because they can be driven with an ordinary driving license. Ever since Japanese authorities started cracking down on emissions - the Tokyo metropolitan government even barred entry to all diesel trucks - these Elfs started flooding into Cebu. The Cebuanos turned them into rolling works of art, barely recognizable from the drab delivery trucks with plain blue or white cabs and aluminum bodies. All the new and cool jeeps are based on Isuzu Elfs, although some are Mitsubishi Canters.
There are also some jeeps based on Toyota vans, commonly the Hi-Ace. These seat about 12 passengers in the rear, as opposed to the Elfs, which can seat as many as 24.
