forfour.co.uk
Forum => General Smart Chat => Topic started by: 454_1.1_55_2004 on January 23, 2021, 08:43:04 AM
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Hi.
Anyone knows what car is this one?
Looks like something british...
Thanks.
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Diahatsu Copen, a model from Toyota's junior brand.
Prone to rust, lacking performance, and pretty small inside. The Smart roadster is a far better car even with its somewhat fragile drivetrain.
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Thx
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Love the copen
Really nice little car and a mini Audi TT look
JJ
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Another funky little Japanese Kei car is the Suzuki Cappuccino. 650cc DOHC turbo. Unfortunately JDM cars of that era weren’t endowed with much rustproofing, so as with the Copen, in our climate succumb quite badly. ;)
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There were quite a few more as well, such as the Honda Beat, Suburu Vivio, Mazda AZ-1, and Daihatsu Leeza. They were all made as Kei cars, a class of small city car of strictly limited size and engine capacity, which I think date back as far as the 1950s. Japanese cities became so crowded that they were the only cars which could be purchased by metropolitan residents who did not own their own space in which to park their car. By the 1990s the engine limit was 660cc with a power output of 64bhp. It was the makers themselves who made the agreement to cap horsepower when in the late 1980s sixteen valve engines and turbocharging brought rapid rises in outputs and they feared even more restrictive legislation being imposed on their tiny cars. There were Kei car versions of vans, people carriers and other larger classes of vehicle. For a while smart exported to Japan a specially modified version of the fortwo, named the smart fortwo K (see what they did there) which qualified for Kei car status.
https://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/show/2003/eng/PUBLIC/boothguide/Smart.html
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I’d love a Kei car :)
The one with the gull wing ?!?
JJ
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I’d love a Kei car :)
The one with the gull wing ?!?
JJ
That would be the Toyota Sera . :)
(http://i.imgur.com/kPdOnfj.jpg) (https://imgur.com/kPdOnfj)
(http://i.imgur.com/83KYIVr.jpg) (https://imgur.com/83KYIVr)
Terrific little car , I'd love one , one was advertised a while back for £5000
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Yes I want that :)
JJ
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Unfortunately the Toyota Sera was NOT a Kei car...
It was made between March 1990 - December 1995
and it was powered by a 1.5 litre petrol.
Interesting to note (from Wikipedia) was that the Sera/EXY-10
was one of the first cars to feature projector headlights :o
I first saw one of these in Hong Kong in the early 90's and I was smitten
and wanted one desperately, but they're rare as 'rocking horse pooh'
in the UK. Few were actually sold in the UK, there are imported ones.
There's an imported one for sale on Autotrader, near me...
1999 - auto - 72k miles - 5 owners - bodykit (not pretty at all !)
£7995
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It was the Mazda AZ-1 that was the gullwing Kei car. I used to have a customer come in with a Sera at the petrol station once or twice, nice enough car. :P
(https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1993_mazda_autozam_az-1_15595890613ada4d93c1Autozam-AZ-1-710.jpg)
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Kinda cute....like a mix of MR2 (Mk.1 rear)
and a Renault Twingo (Mk.1 front).
I quite like it. None fa sale on Autotrader...
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I wouldn't expect so. There are a few on eBay as direct imports but the price is rather astonishing. For my money, I'd get something like a Subaru Sambar or a Mitsubushi i.
The Copen was something I did wonder about getting but I've sat in a Roadster before and figured that was too low for me, the Copen would likely be the same. They did a latter 1.3 option in the UK but that was naturally aspirated and that kind of defeats the point of it being a kei car for me.
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Just in case anyone mentions/brings up the Nissan Figaro....
It wasn't a Kei car....it was powered by a 1.0L turbo petrol.
(I think it's f'ugly...some won't though)
(https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/w540/2bb8d4dca4e449cb8ea1da1213bf06b3.jpg)
(https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/%7Bresize%7D/327be96764104a628103368453dd5852.jpg)
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It was the Mazda AZ-1 that was the gullwing Kei car. I used to have a customer come in with a Sera at the petrol station once or twice, nice enough car. :P
(https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1993_mazda_autozam_az-1_15595890613ada4d93c1Autozam-AZ-1-710.jpg)
Yes I want that now :)
Like a mini Ford RS200
JJ
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My favourite Kei car is the first one about which I read, probably in Fast Lane, in the late eighties. The Mitsubishi Minica Dangan ZZ-4. Three-cylinder DOHC 550cc 15v Turbo 4WD, 0-60 in 8.7 and 100+mph. Impressive for a tiny city car in 1989. It's great fun in Gran Turismo too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Minica#/media/File:Mitsubishi_Minica_Dangan_001.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Mitsubishi_Minica_Dangan_002.JPG
The small Japanese car of the era which I really would have liked to own, though, was the Daihatsu Charade GTti. The forfour Brabus of its day in some ways, it was small, unassumingly styled, not much different to the rest of the range, quicker off the mark and up to sensible speeds than many of the better-known hot hatches around at the time, and particulary similar to the Brabus in its rarity on the roads of the UK.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ff/ac/78/ffac7823a40e3f695a5bdd57b1e9715e.jpg
https://www.carspiritpk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/autowp.ru_daihatsu_charade_gtti_1.jpeg
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I had a daihatsu charade turbo but the turbo had blown so just had a right angled pipe connecting the manifold to the head :)
Still handled really well and was faster than my mates
Nova SR
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/classic-car-weekly-uk/20171206/282364040009278
The gtti was a great car
JJ
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JJ.....Re your post on/about the AZ-1...
.....Yes I want that now :)
There are a couple for sale in the UK....
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/79/az1/
4 of them at that site...1 at £13,999 3 at £14,999
I'd rather buy a secondhand EV if I had that much to spend.
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Yeah - fresh imports :)
JJ
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Looks really good in white. Agree with G though, very expensive for what they are. Starting to get into Lotus Elise territory there.