Daihatsu’s Copen must be one of the cutest cars ever created, with its big round eyes and tiny, tiny dimensions you almost feel like giving it a cheeky wink and an affectionate pat on the bonnet when you pass one in a car park. 

For some there lies the problem and compounded by its weedy 660cc engine or in export guise 1.3litre it doesnt really represent much sporting. 

We do see rather alot of them on the roads in Japan however so the car clearly tickles some peoples fancy. 

It seems that plans are afoot to replace the current car with a new model by the spring of 2010.  the new car will be based on the OFC 1 concept that debuted at last years Tokyo Motor Show.  That car really didn’t look significantly different from now but rumours suggest that the exterior design is undergoing further work.

The new undertaking will likely be based on the new Daihatsu Move platform and will incorporate a newly developed 3 cylinder turbo engine to produce the standard 64ps.  The same as for all turbocharged Kei(660cc) engines in order to meet national regulations.  

So it seems that if you were hoping that Daihatsu were going to go a bit wild with the horsepower next time then sadly its not going to happen.  However the current cars are eminently tuneable and with well regarded handling are able to handle a bit more grunt so hopefully no reason to believe that won’t be the same with the new one.

The price in Japan is specualted to be around 1.6 million yen.

The Copen is currently the only open topped kei(660cc) engined car in production since the Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappucino were axed a few years ago but Honda might be about to change that soon.

OFC-1 Concept