Introduced in November 1967, the Miniace was a small commercial-use vehicle made of components from the Publica. The initial model lineup included trucks (low deck and high deck versions) and a panel van, to which a van and a passenger car-class coach (7 seater) were added in August 1968. The Miniace maximized the length of the bed relative to the body length by adopting the cab-over-engine design, and offered a payload capacity of 500 kg, which was 150 kg more than that of light trucks available at the time. Its minimum turning radius was 3.9 m, which was on a par with that of minicars (keijidosha) and gave the Miniace its outstanding maneuverability. The price was comparable to those of average light trucks.

The engine was an 800 cc 36 PS air-cooled horizontally-opposed 2-cylinder OHV unit (2U-B), and the transmission was a 4-speed manual with a column shifter. The suspension used an independent double wishbone and torsion bar system for the front, and a rigid axle leaf spring arrangement for the rear.

Production of the Miniace was discontinued in November 1975.