When I look at the pictures the base 2WD L400s look wimpy, but the base 2WD L300s do too. We just don't see many low-spec Delicas in Canada - by the time they are 15 years old few are worth exporting, if they are even still on the road. These were generally working L300 commercial vans and have been run in to the ground, unlike our pampered Exceeds, Chamonix and Super Exceeds.
I know a lot of people didn't know what to make of the first L300s when they started appearing on B.C. roads. Ugly? A face only a mother could love? Or just plain funny-looking? Only when people got used to them did they realize just how cool "functional" could look, and learned that the Delica wasn't all show, it had the grunt to go with the looks. The same will happen with L400s, I'm sure.
Add some lights, a bull bar, big tires and 4WD and jack up the ride height, and you get a worthy vehicle, L300 or L400. When the time comes to replace Gumdrop, I will definitely want to look at an L400. As long as the Brits, Aussies and Kiwis leave some for us Great White North folks to play with.
...laura, L300 Super Exceed owner