Daihatsu Copen Coupe!

Want a rare, rear-drive, turbocharged JDM special in 2019? Try the new Daihatsu…

Who knew green kei cars were like buses? You wait ages for one and then there are two in as many days. Following on from yesterday’s announcement of the Honda S660 Trad Leather Edition there’s this: the Daihatsu Copen Coupe. The 2019 Tokyo show is looking even better than ever…

This is the first time the Copen has had a fixed roof; it was previewed by the Copen Cerro concept of 2016, the production version a result of the positive response it received as a show car. From here it looks frankly adorable, featuring nearly every Japanese sports car styling cue – BBS wheels, GT-R-aping rear lights, chunky exhausts, bonnet power bulges – just in miniature. It’s like a model village on four wheels.

The concept is cited in the production version with a CFRP roof, plus there’s a standard limited-slip diff for harnessing all 64hp from that monstrous three-cylinder turbo. Don’t you just love Japanese over-engineering? Should buyers desire some more edge from their Copen, both a sports exhaust and HKS suspension are on the extras list. Fabulous.

Want one? Course you do. Sadly Daihatsu will make just 200 Copen Coupes, all for Japan and with deliveries beginning in April to coincide with the fifth anniversary of this Copen generation. It’s priced at 2,484,000 yen (about £17,500) for the manual version; the CVT car – because what’s a Japanese curio without a CVT option? – will cost 2,505,600, or in the region of £17,800. Bring on the Best Motoring Tsukuba battle with that S660…

Source: Read Full Article