Originally built to help kickstart the automotive manufacturing industry after World War Two, the humble Kei car has had its formula revised and honed over the past couple of decades.
It has since become a highly cost effective way of car ownership, one that has also helped to reduce congestion and transportation’s environmental impact.
But I didn’t buy a Daihatsu Copen as my first car because I cared about alleviating the symptoms of traffic build up. As a car enthusiast, the “caring for the environment” bit wasn’t really at the top of my priority list too.
See, you want your first car to be something special. A car that you can look back on with rose tinted glasses, and have nothing negative to say about the overall ownership experience. And on the budget that I was on, there was really no other option for a car that suited my needs.
First Exposure
Growing up, Daihatsu Copens were not necessarily common, but they certainly weren’t rare. You’d actually be able to see them fairly regularly, but I never really took a second look at them.
That all changed when I decided to treat myself for my 21st birthday. I wanted a fun, turbocharged convertible to spend a day in, and I chanced upon an owner who was willing to rent me his Copen for that very purpose. Truth be told, I did scoff at the spec sheet of the car – a 660cc engine? With less than 70 bhp? Is this vehicle even capable of forward motion?
Still, that all changed when I comandeered the vehicle. I’m an automotive journalist now, and I cringe when my peers use the words ‘character‘ and ‘charisma‘ to describe a car. But those words were really the best adjectives to describe the Copen experience. Who cares about raw speed when you have a rambunctious little 660cc 4-banger under the bonnet?
Needless to say, and very much like a hopeless drug addict, I was hooked.
The Search Begins
I couldn’t afford a set of wheels at that time. But that didn’t stop me from window shopping on a certain local motoring classifieds website. After about a year of saving up, owning a Copen started to not just be a pipe dream, but a tangible reality.
I first viewed and test-drove a yellow manual. It was genuinely a lot of fun, but the robust clutch pedal was a huge deterrent, bearing in mind that I did fairly big mileage for my job at that time.
By pure coincidence, I was tasked to design a used car showroom for a client of the bosses I was working for at that time. They had an owner looking to consign a Daihatsu Copen.
I wanted to view the car with no actual intention of buying it. It was meant to be a way for me to justify to myself that I needed that experience daily. But the deal was done the instant I turned the key. Logic and reasoning were not factors that I considered – my heart did all the deciding on my behalf.
Was It Any Good?
Yes. For the first time in my life I had wheels to call my own. I no longer needed to borrow the family vehicle, and I could travel wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It offered me a certain freedom that you just couldn’t get even if you decided to use car sharing and/or private hire rides.
The car itself was fantastic too. Granted, I did have second thoughts during the initial ownership phase, as the car was a little too low-to-the-ground and harsh for some of the roads I use it on. Though it is a phase, an acceptance of the flaws meant that you soon to work with the car, instead of forcing it to play by your rules.
And it isn’t even that hopelessly impractical. The boot is actually fairly usable, and there’s still space between your seat and the rear bulkhead for a sizeable daily bag. The fuel economy was excellent too, and the car literally costed nothing to run. It isn’t fast, but it really isn’t meant to be quick.
Would I Buy One Again?
As an automotive journalist, I regularly have access to new cars. A perk of the job I guess.
And whilst these cars offer performance, technology and refinement that an older kei car simply cannot match, I’d still buy another Copen in a heartbeat. That, I’m sure, speaks volumes about the place it has in my heart.
You May Be Interested In: #ICYMI – Top Reads for 1st – 6th October
