Realtoy Nissan NV200 Taxi and Tomica Mazda Bongo Friendee

There are more Nissan vans out there than just the Prairie from Matchbox, including the Tomica Dandy first-generation Prairie.  Here are two versions that have different missions, a 1990’s Mazda-based van designed for camping and a recent Nissan van that also serves duties as a taxi.

Tomica Mazda Bongo Friendee

The Nissan Bongo is based on the Mazda of the same name and was introduced in 1995 as a practical minivan that uses inspiration from the VW Eurovan, especially with the optional tent that pops up from the roof and stowes away with ease.  The Bongo has a more upright look like the Eurovan with a few familiar Mazda styling cues front and rear shared with the MPV, and yes it was also sold as a Nissan but only as the smaller Bongo line, not the Friendee, and was replaced by the NV200.  The interior has seating for seven with rear seats that can fold into a mattress and an available sink as well, while the large liftgate opens up with two large handles from either side of the license plate.  The engine is a 2.5L SOHC V6 that produces an estimated 150 horsepower through a 4-speed automatic transmission and to either the rear or four wheels depending on models.  The popularity of this model’s camper roots allowed it to be in production with little changes until 2005.

From the outside this white van looks like any Tomica van offering, but inside there’s a neat party trick: open the roof up and back and a blue tent appears, which is nice but tends to block off the interior when in the closed position.  The front has square headlights that are part of the chrome grille, lower grille on the bumper, side graphics and note the sliding rear door is on the left side instead of the right since this is a right-hand drive van.  The rear has rectangular vertical taillights that meet up with the black portion of the liftgate where the grab handles are, while the base shows off some light drivetrain detailing.  The interior has three rows of seats, though they are pinched together to allow the camper top curtains to store and the front dashboard is usual Tomica missing except for the steering wheel.  Not an exciting casting, but it is great for those who want a Japanese camper van.

Realtoy Nissan NV200 Taxi

Ah, here’s another diecast automaker that gets little notice and releases some impressive castings, Realtoy.  I will have more reviews of their castings in later posts, but for now the most recent is an interesting choice, the Nissan NV200 in taxi form and in this version it is designed to sell in New Your City as a New York Taxi.  The NV200 was introduced in 2010 as Nissan’s new small van that is front-wheel drive and designed for urban cities with tighter spaces.  The van has a forward-nose with cab-forward windshield that leads to a typical boxy van rear-end; this allows the engine to sit forward and give the interior a vast amount of space inside for such a small van.  It’s no wonder that it is the perfect choice for Taxi duty and was approved as the official New York Taxi cab when the Crown Victoria from Ford ended production in 2011.  More than just a light bar for taxi duty, the NV200 taxi features a low-sounding horn with lights that blink to warn any pedestrians of the van moving or any doors opening, a skyroof on some models, a rear seat that is where the third row sits with two foldable front seats for any additional passengers to accept four passengers, rear air conditioning controls, easy-to-clean seats, and standard navigation system.  The engine is a 2.0L DOHC I-4 that produces an estimated 140 horsepower through a CVT transmission to the front wheels.  Even Chevrolet like the NV200 package so much that they also sell a rebadged version called the City Express.

The Realtoy castings looks good in yellow with black Taxi decals on the sides, blue licensed taxi hood badge, and even front and rear orange New York license plates.  The front has the sleek headlights that flow from the V-shaped front grille while the lower bumper has the grille opening and New York plate.  The sides feature front windows that curve up toward the B-pillar (just like the Renault Trafic) and dual sliding rear doors, while the rear has taillights that stick out to the sides like some modern pickup trucks do and a rear panel doors with the right-side door larger than the left.  The base underneath does not show much on the real vehicle, but Realtoy did a nice job with the detailed floor stampings and the exhaust system and the 6-spoke wheels look great on this casting.  Inside the interior has two front captain’s chairs, while the rear bench seat is in the correct position for a taxi and allows for plenty of room for cargo in the back.  The dashboard has all the controls mounted high up, including the shifter, and lots of nice detailing including the correct Nissan 3-spoke steering wheel.  Sure, Tomica has one with an opening rear hatch, but it has nothing on the fine detailing that can be found on this Realtoy casting.