1996 Daihatsu Charade on 2040-cars

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Daihatsu kei camper van heads to Tokyo Auto Salon

Daihatsu is heading to the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon with a selection of modified cars. The event is known for its high-performance sports cars and extravagant luxury rides, so how does a company specializing in kei cars and compacts stand out? By headlining a kei camper with a folding rooftop tent. #Vanlife! The Daihatsu Atrai Deck Camper started out as a kei delivery truck for Japan's narrow city streets. It's a notable vehicle for being the only kei truck that has four doors and a pickup-like bed in the back. Not only that, but the two rear doors are of the sliding variety, and the tailgate folds open 180 degrees. Normally, this would seem to be a hit with refrigerator or grandfather clock repairmen, but Daihatsu sees it as the perfect camping car. The rooftop canopy appears to open and fold outward in shapes that mimic the added buttresses along the bed. Additional expedition gear comes in the form of a safari rack on top of the tent shell, an LED light bar and what appear to be two pairs of auxiliary lights in a bespoke front fascia. Daihatsu's building four other vehicles for the Auto Salon. One is a more luxurious version of the fully enclosed Atrai van, fitted with a grille rivaling that of the new Silverado. Another Daihatsu HiJet kei truck is described as an assembly experience truck for the Copen roadster. Though we only have a cartoony illustration to go with it for now, it looks like you'll be able to construct the nose of a Copen in the truck's bed. Last but not least, Daihatsu is showing two variants of the revived Daihatsu Rocky. Gen X readers might remember that name from the Suzuki Samurai-esque off-roader that was sold briefly in the U.S. from 1988-92. Unlike its body-on-frame predecessors, the new Rockys are unibody compacts. The show cars depict a luxury-leaning version and an off-road version. Should Daihatsu ever return to the U.S. market the Rocky would probably sell well in crossover-crazy America, but the real MVP would be a production Atrai Deck Camper. Related Video: Featured Gallery Daihatsu Tokyo Auto Salon 2022 Aftermarket Tokyo Auto Salon Daihatsu Crossover Minivan/Van

Toyota's Copen GR Sport is a tiny, racy roadster

In its home market, Toyota has a designated sport brand called GR, which is meant to invoke Toyota's Gazoo Racing division. It has three tiers of sportiness: the entry-level GR Sport, GR, and all-out range-topping GRMN. Ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota announced it is adding to its GR Sport lineup a new mini convertible called the Copen GR Sport. Toyota pulled the Copen from Daihatsu's bank of cool minicars. Diahatsu announced its own Copen GR Sport at the Tokyo Auto Salon in early 2019. Now Toyota will sell its own hotted-up version of the tiny roadster. Toyota Gazoo Racing tweaked the new model and gave it sportier equipment and a visual update inside and out. First, let's talk basic stats. The Copen GR Sport weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and has a 0.66-liter turbocharged engine that makes 63 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 68 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm. It's front-wheel drive and is available with a five-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with seven-speed Super Active Shift and paddle shifters. Toyota left the powertrain alone and chose to focus on body rigidity and suspension tuning. The Copen GR Sport has specific shock absorbers, updated spring rates, retuned power steering, a new front brace, and a redesigned center brace.  Toyota made the Copen a bit more visually aggressive as well. It has a unique front bumper with side air intakes, a larger front grille, and a rear bumper with a new diffuser look. It also comes with matte gray BBS forged-aluminum wheels, LED headlights, LED fog lights, and LED taillights. GR Sport emblems on the front, side, and rear assure passers-by this is not a regular Copen. In total, eight exterior colors are available, as are multiple color options for the roof. The black interior was spruced up with Recaro sport seats with GR embroidery, a MOMO leather-wrapped steering wheel with the GR emblem, piano black accents, and a new GR instrument cluster with red accents. Unfortunately, the pint-sized roadster is only available in Japan.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Daihatsu Charade SE Hatchback

The third-generation Daihatsu Charade could be purchased in the United States for the 1988 through 1992 model years, but competition against the likes of the Ford Festiva, Geo Metro, Subaru Justy, and Pontiac LeMans proved too tough for the relatively unknown Japanese marque. You won't see many Charades (or Rockies) today, but this gold '90 Charade manage to avoid the crusher until age 27. The Charade name is up there with Achieva, Starion, ETC, and Aspire, when it comes to model names from the "what could they have been thinking?" category. Like the Metro and Justy, the Charade's standard engine was a straight-three driving the front wheels. This engine was good for 53 horsepower, compared to 66 in the Justy and 55 in the Metro. An optional four-cylinder making 80 hp was available. The Charade listed for $6,497 in 1990, which is about $12,000 in inflation-adjusted 2017 dollars. The '90 Geo Metro was $6,995 and the Justy was a mere $6,295. This Charade never even made it to 100,000 miles, which may or may not be indicative of its build quality. Daihatsu USA tried to make the brand's obscurity a selling point in this 1991 ad, but the company was gone after the following year. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Daihatsu Charade View 17 Photos Auto News Daihatsu Automotive History