Daihatsu Copen
Women's view
Its impossible not to feel rather maternal towards the Daihatsu Copen. Cute, small and looking rather dwarfed by the other vehicles in our staff car park, it nevertheless can look after itself. I felt a little vulnerable the first time I sat inside looking up at the differential of a huge delivery lorry but out on the back roads I knew the Copen would come into its own. Despite the miniature dimensions I figured this was a car Id get along fine with.
This is one of the most Japanese cars to hit these shores. Everything about it feels alien, novel and ever so slightly exotic. With its Mercedes SLK-style folding hard top roof itll no doubt appeal to the cafe society set looking for an urban scoot with both rarity value and styling that could have come from a manga movie. The Copen manages to pack a lot of goodies into a tiny footprint but the tape measure dictates that it will always feel very comfy for two, especially for bulky western shoulders.
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The roof is the Copens party piece and it looks good with the hardtop up or down. Fabricated from aluminium its a lightweight structure and it flips neatly up and down courtesy of a series of electric motors in 25 seconds. There are two catches on the header rail to flip and then a dash-mounted button does the rest. Whats more, a proper metal roof makes a lot of sense in the city, providing added security whilst proving a less tempting target for knife-wielding idiots.
A more basic version of the roof is offered in Japan which may well help to explain some of the price differential. The interior is nicely, if a little unadventurously, styled and features a compartment behind the seats for odds and ends. Otherwise the boot space is briefcase-sized, due to the fact that the roof cassette impinges into the luggage bay. If you commit to driving with the roof up, youll achieve more room.
The Copens tiny 660cc engine fizzes, whooshes and zings all the way to 8,000rpm, a bobbin-sized turbocharger helping the powerplant develop 63bhp. True, thats not going to generate retina-detaching acceleration but due to the fact that the Copen weighs less than some cars owners manuals it will sprint to 60mph in a pretty brisk 10.3 seconds and top out over 100mph. Its well up to the cut and thrust of a motorway journey, although on longer inclines you may have to drop a gear in order to realise some meaningful acceleration.
It feels astonishingly vivid at normal speeds, the constant chattering of that engine giving the impression that its travelling a good deal quicker than it is. Zip the Copen along a set of country lanes and youll feel as if youre achieving some heroic velocities only to realise theres a Kia Pride in the dinky rear view mirror impatiently trying to get past. Its huge fun. The Copens chassis is based on a truncated version of the Cuore hatch and it feels agreeably stiff, the seat of the pants driving position giving the little Daihatsu a genuine sports car feel, although the Momo steering wheel may be a little too large for those with prop forward thighs.
The gearbox is fun to snick the lever through and overall packaging is helped by the fact that the Copen utilises a compact front-wheel drive layout. At just 3,395mm long, it is simplicity itself to nuzzle into a tight parking spot.
Priced at £13,495, the Copen looks good value, especially when one considers that many of its customer base will be young professionals looking for a second or even third car. It may well prove a little too cutesy for some, but otherwise it looks set for success. With only 1,000 cars arriving per year, however, dont expect the Copen to become as ubiquitous as, say, the Mini. Youd expect this element of exclusivity to prop up residual values nicely, but the fact that the Copen has been on sale in Japan for a while and is priced from around £8,000 may do some interesting things to the cars used valuations.
Well have to wait and see how the market pans out in this instance.
As long as I could keep my family hatch for the more mundane things in life, Id gladly splash out on a Copen. Its one of those cars that brings a smile to not only your face but those of passers by. A 660cc dose of happiness every morning just has to be a good thing.
