The Copen Lives On
The Daihatsu Copen is dead. Long live the Copen! Daihatsu is providing a concrete preview of a new generation of the Copen during the Japan Mobility Show. The brand is using the opportunity to present a small armada of other new kei-cars.
The Daihatsu Copen as it was delivered in the Netherlands has been gone for years. Daihatsu has not been active in Europe since 2013. Meanwhile, the Copen has stubbornly continued. The cute convertible with a folding roof was succeeded by a model that would no longer come our way and has only one year left. Daihatsu had already indicated it was investigating how to give the car a successor, and today it appears to have quite advanced plans. This is the Daihatsu K-Open!
The K-Open is obviously a precursor to what you can expect from the new third-generation Copen. What appears: the new Copen will become a direct retro model and seems to show strong similarities to the original. Unlike the first and second generations, the K-Open is a rear-wheel drive. According to Daihatsu, the gasoline engine is positioned low in the car, which contributes to a low center of gravity.
With its round headlights and taillights, the K-Open obviously wins at the original model. Its somewhat bulging hood and rounded rear are also clear references to the first generation. Notably, the rear is much higher than the rest of the car. Centrally at the bottom of the rear, we notice an exhaust tip. The interior already reveals something about the drivetrain. In it, we simply see the gear lever of a manual transmission.
How much you like the Daihatsu K-Open or not actually matters little. Unfortunately, this piece of automotive fun will not come to the Netherlands.
More Daihatsu!
During the Japan Mobility Show, Daihatsu not only parks the K-Open at its stand but also opens a can of new study models. These are possibly even less relevant to us than the K-Open. There is an already discussed Midget That seems to be a smaller cousin of this Toyota.