Official UK sales figures of just 80 cars, permanent
four-wheel drive, an 8,500 rpm red line and a kerb weight of around 750 kg.
Sounds like a pretty exotic specification, doesn't it? This is not some exotic
track day beast, however, but a tiny Japanese city
car. Though it is exotic in its own little way.
Japanese car manufacturers had for more than half a
century been creating diddy runarounds to conform to specific regulations, most
notably exterior dimensions and engine size.
By the 1990s the kei-car genre was sufficiently
mature that it was dividing into sub-segments mirroring the wider car market. Think of the clunkily titled Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato
TR-XX R4 as a McRae-era Impreza that's been shrunk in a hot wash and you get an
idea of this car's character.
It might only have had 64 hp (a result of the kei-car
rules) from its 660 cc turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but a kerb weight of
just three-quarters of a ton means the little Daihatsu has plenty of zip to it.
As in a 0-60 km/h time that some claim to be as short as 8.5 seconds and a top
speed of 158 km/h.
In a car that seems barely any bigger than a 1:43
scale Bburago model (and probably barely more substantial), we reckon that's
more than quick enough.
This particular car looks like it needs a wee bit of
attention, and would need taxing and testing, but it's clearly been generally
well looked-after during its life, and that JDM-spec Mira front-end seems to
suit it better than the original nose.
