bakkie n. a small pick-up truck or van. Etymological Note: The Datsun 680, 1200, and 1400 light trucks were a few of several similar models, made by the now-defunct manufacturer, which took the nickname “bakkie.” A similar vehicle is now sold in South Africa by Nissan as the “Nissan 1400 bakkie.” It seems the term originated as a nickname, not as a brand name. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When she was a child, Chris from Santa Rosa, California, misunderstood the definition of the word vehicle—with amusing results. This is part of a complete episode.
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From the dutch word “bak” (=tray; carrier; cistern). Short Dutch form: “bakje”, in slang, some dutch dialects and in the South african language Afrikaans (originally a form of dutch): “bakkie”.
Later used for small open trailers, and from there perhaps to the pick-uo trucks that are mentioned.
Robert Noorlander
Haarlem, Holland
Thanks, Robert! That sounds exactly right to me.
Just a clarification—Datsun is not defunct; the manufacturer simply began branding its vehicles as Nissan in the mid 1980’s.
Alt. def.
bakkie n. A slang abreviation of “tobacco”, used in US and NZ. Can apply both to smoking and chewing tobacco in the US.
Steve, that’s a different word altogether and very common, anyway.
Hello,
I’ve got Datsun 1400 bakkie in Portugal which i imported from SA
thinking about restoring it.
The engine on it has had it,i’m wondering what kind of engine i could find in Europe to fit in there?I also need a dash board.
Any help is appreciated.
Good day to you i have one too in portugal and i m doing the same as you bat i do have all the parts to begin with it my mail is carlos shorty@sapo.pt be free to speak to me about restoring the van
Bakkie is used commonly in South Africa to refer to a pick-up truck. Pick-up is not used at all. The explanation above is correct. A “bak” is a container in Afrikaans – and “bakkie” is the diminutive form and became the general word for a small truck.
I remember those 1400 Nissan bakkies…they would go like ‘hot s..t off a shovel’. I eventually had a bakkie to beat them on ‘take-off’ – a 1300 fuel injected Corsa bakkie…
These days I drive a 1.9 JTD (turbodiesel) bakkie in The Algarve. If either of you two ‘Porras’ above want to dice, email me: gladius.primus@gmail.com