As much as I love epic action photography, like the bangers of Larry Chen, sometimes all you need is a good subject and clean framing to create an exceptional car photo. This shot of two adorable dogs, color-matched kei cars, and the delightful detail of the customized license plates came together to make one of my favorite car pics of 2025.
I stumbled on this scrolling Facebook, where I’m a member of so many car and dog groups that I already forget where exactly I first saw it. But I did manage to get in touch with the uploader, Samantha Tran, who gave me permission to share the picture here and provided some context.
The vehicles are owned by Tran and her husband, and yes, the dogs do ride in both. For those of you who aren’t that into animals, that’s a Shiba Inu on the left and a Corgi on the right—both look to be fully grown. And in case this gets shared to a dog page and some non-car-nerds are reading: The left car is a Honda Beat and the one on the right is an Autozam AZ-1. Neither were ever sold new in America; both would have been imported from Japan and are designated “kei cars” because of their tininess. The legality of these vehicles in several states, including MA, has been contested but is generally becoming accepted.
As for what these dogs think of their 660cc conveyances:
“Mike usually takes the shiba while i take the corgi on drives—the shiba likes the beat because it’s all the fresh air she could ask for but the corgi doesn’t like the az1 so much! his head is too big to stick out of the tiny window 😂, [sic]” Tran shared with me over Facebook messenger.
I’ve never driven a Beat but I did once get to rip around Malibu in an AZ-1—it’s pretty much like riding in a hamster ball with Harbor Freight engine. It’s a riot for humans, but, I’m not surprised the dog isn’t crazy about it.
Tran told me they also own a kei truck, and sent me this picture of the pups in the back of a similarly dimunitive Honda Acty (cropped here to fit on our page):
Honestly I’m pretty surprised that these license plates weren’t already taken (assuming they’re not just prop plates for shows and photos). But I think they’ve found the perfect cars to be placed on.
Got any other great dogs-plus-cars pics to share? Shoot ’em my way: [email protected]. I can’t promise we’ll post them but I will definitely appreciate seeing them.
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