1993 Daihatsu Hijet W A/c on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Daihatsu Compagno concept makes us wish the company was still in America

Here at Autoblog, we frequently talk about cars we love that we just can't get here, and Daihatsu just revealed a car that will surely reignite those conversations. It's a new concept called the Compagno, and it's a revival of a vintage Daihatsu of the same name. It's also a little sedan that, because of its sleek shape, is called a coupe. Debate over naming conventions aside, the Compagno is a lovely little sedan to look at. It's very well proportioned, and it has a refreshingly clean and taut shape with long, simple curves and little adornment. It gets a little bit of flair and aggression from the shoulder created by a creased line that runs from the top of the headlights to the top of the taillights. The fast, sloping roofline and hidden rear door handle help sell the coupe look. It's also nice to see a retro-inspired design that isn't shamelessly so. You can see the retro elements in the shape of the grille and the way the fascia leans forward, but most of the rest of the car looks quite modern. We like this sedan a lot, and we really wish something similar would come here. It's not the only Daihatsu we'd like to see either. The company has a really cool little kei-class roadster called the Copen. It's available with different appearance options that will appeal to fans of modern and vintage cars alike, and it features a line of customizable body parts. Daihatsu also designed a thoroughly adorable kei-class van called the Move Canbus. It looks like a tiny VW Microbus. Bring over all three, and you'd have a really appealing lineup. But if we leave our wildest dreams and examine our cold hard reality, a lineup like this probably wouldn't survive here. All of those cars are extremely small. The Copen is about half a size smaller than a Miata, for reference. Even this Compagno concept is probably too small. The company says it has either a 1.0-liter turbocharged engine, or a 1.2-liter hybrid engine. That means there's no way it's any bigger than say, a Ford Fiesta sedan. And if that's one of the largest cars Daihatsu might sell, the company wouldn't have a prayer in a world where the F-150 is king. Oh well, even if we never get the Compagno, hopefully Japan will see a production version. And then in 25 years, crazy car enthusiasts such as ourselves might start bringing some over. Related Video:

Question of the Day: What's the most irritating car name?

You hear a lot about how the Chevrolet Nova was a sales flop in Mexico because "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish; in fact, the Nova sold pretty well south of the border, and in any case most Spanish-speakers know that "Nova" means "new" in Latin and Portuguese. However, General Motors doesn't deserve to be let off the hook for bad car names, because the Oldsmobile Achieva— no doubt inspired by the excruciating "coffee achievers" ads of the 1980s— scrapes the biggest fingernails down the screechiest chalkboard in the US-market car-name world. That is, unless you think Daihatsu's incomprehensible choice of Charade was worse. Meanwhile, Japanese car buyers could get machines with cool names like Mazda Bongo Friendee or Honda Life Dunk. It's just not fair! So, what car name drives you the craziest? Related Video: Auto News Design/Style Chevrolet Honda Mazda Daihatsu Automotive History questions car names

Daihatsu reveals Miata-fighting roadster and more for Tokyo Mobility Show

Daihatsu left the U.S. market way back in 1992, but the brand is still going strong in Japan. The company is wholly owned by Toyota now and specializes in building kei cars and trucks, a special class of lightweight compact city cars. These days most kei vehicles are sensible rectangles to maximize passenger or cargo space inside the strict footprint allowed allowed by the class, but Daihatsu proves some fun can still be had.  And few of the concepts say that more than the Daihatsu Vision Copen (pictured at top). Design-wise it's a modern interpretation of the original Copen roadster introduced in 2002, with almost identical overall shape and round head and taillights. However, the original was more of an open top cruiser with practical front-wheel-drive layout. The Vision Copen, on the other hand, is rear-wheel-drive, showing muscular flared wheel arches that the original never did. It's powered by a 1.3-liter engine running on carbon-neutral fuel (whatever that means), a displacement that exceeds kei car regulations. So does the Vision Copen's footprint, which measures 150 inches long and 67 inches wide, almost the size of the Mazda Miata. It would be amazing if Daihatsu actually produced this car, even though it wouldn't be legal to import until 2049 or so, because the world definitely needs more rear-drive sports cars.  Then comes the me:MO, described as a car that will stay with the owner through many stages of life. It looks to be comprised of modular body panels. It's a trick Daihatsu has actually put on a production car, the Copen roadster, with composite fenders and doors that can be swapped with those of different shape or color. The me:MO appears to be an electric vehicle that has modular components on the inside as well, but the company has not released full details just yet.  The Daihatsu Uniform is the distilled essence of the kei car. Boxy and utilitarian but still exuding a bit of funkiness in the design, it was built to accommodate the working men and women of Japan. Vehicles like this usually serve as cargo haulers in dense urban areas where they can fit down extremely narrow alleys. The name derives from the fact that these workers are required to wear uniforms as they deliver everything from Amazon packages to food. The Uniform comes in two flavors, a cargo van and a truck.  The Daihatsu Osanpo is an open-top kei car built for leisurely cruising.