Daihatsu sees potential in drop-top

Not known for way-out designs, extravagant styling cues and anything out of the ordinary for that matter, Daihatsu has just released a new model into the Japanese car market.

Daihatsu is regarded as a fairly restrained marque, a company that doesn't mind doing things by the numbers, if you will. As such, we've never featured a Daihatsu on the Wombat, save for a few news pieces here and there.

Well, the new Copen changes all that and, while the new tiddler is unlikely to arrive in Australia any time soon, if at all, the convertible roadster does have plenty of merits.

The Copen was first seen at the Tokyo Motor Show, albeit in slightly altered conceptual form, and then in Australia at the International Melbourne Motor Show, which runs during the Formula One Grand Prix every year, in March.

Essentially a two-door, two-seater drop-top roadster, the new Copen is a rather groovy mixture of styles. It's part Audi TT, part Ford Street Ka and a throw in a smidge of Daihatsu individualism, just for kicks.

The front-end could be described as joyful, with big round VW Beetle-like headlights, a trapezoidal grille and short, heavily curved overhangs. The rear-end of the car is almost identical to the front, with similar sized brake lights, and a rather tasty twin-exhaust system in place of the grille.

The Copen is, as you can tell from the photos, small. It aims to bring a new and exciting dynamic to the compact-car market by being the first baby-roadster with an electrically operated metal roof. Push the 'transmute' button, and in about 25 seconds, the roof retracts and you can experience the joy of open-air driving.

The Daihatsu is a tiny car, measuring 3.4 metres in length and just 1.47 metres in width. It will seat two people, take very little luggage (with the top down) and is shod with bicycle-like 165/50 tyres.

It weighs an astonishing 830kg, and drives through the front wheels, courtesy of a 5-speed manual transmission. Powering the mini-roadster is an equally mini 656cc inline-four cylinder engine, which would be more at home on a Suzuki GSX-R sportsbike.

Still, with such a light weight and the addition of a turbocharger, the 0.7-litre engine will happily bounce off its 8500rpm rev limiter, endowing it with more than respectable acceleration.

The DOHC, 16-valve beast makes 47kW @ 6000rpm, with 110Nm of torque @ 3200rpm, making for a wide spread of power.

While 47kW may sound pretty weak, consider how much you would save if your car did 18 kilometres per litre of petrol.

The Copen, like the Nissan Skyline GTR, is currently only for sale in Japan, but it has been confirmed for export to the UK. What does this mean for us? It has a better chance to make it over here, especially the more people know about it. But in all likelihood, it would probably sell for not much less than the 1.6-litre Peugeot 206CC, perhaps at around $30,000.

Still, the prospects of a little roadster such as the Copen, with a small capacity engine, would translate to miniscule running costs and also cheap insurance, thanks to the added security of a hard top.

Daihatsu has released it's updated Sirion locally, and with the new Copen a slim possibility, the small car company's future is looking like the face of it's new roadster - bright.