SHOWA SNAP: Tokyo Tower under construction, circa 1958
This Tokyo street scene shows a variety of vehicles, from sedans like the Toyopet Crown to large trucks like the Toyota Toyoace to three-wheelers like the Daihatsu CO10T. What really makes the shot,...
View ArticleVIDEO: More of the Daihatsu museum in a virtual tour
Daihatsu has uploaded more videos continuing the virtual tour of curiously named Humobility World, the company’s museum in Osaka. In part one, we saw the earliest Daihatsu products, a 5,842-pound...
View ArticleDaihatsu’s 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon lineup includes 60th anniversary Hijet...
The 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon has been canceled due to the recent COVID-19 spike, but carmakers will be showing their builds in an upcoming virtual event. Ahead of that, Daihatsu has revealed its lineup of...
View ArticleTAS2021: Here come Daihatsu’s Tokyo Auto Salon cars
Daihatsu has officially taken the wraps off their 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon builds. We saw mock-ups of them last month, but now videos of the finished cars can be seen in motion, complete with jaunty...
View ArticleEVENTS: The inaugural Kyushu Kei Car Meeting
On Sunday April 25th the inaugural Kyushu Kei Car Meeting was held in Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture. I see a raised hand in the back there. “Inaugural” means, like, the first one? Well, yeah. Due to...
View ArticleDaihatsu might bring back the Rocky as a Jimny rival
There’s a rumor swirling around Japanese automotive media right now that Daihatsu might be bringing back the mighty Rocky. Well, technically it’s not the Rocky, but the vehicle that the original Rocky...
View ArticleFor the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Daihatsu followed the torch from Greece to Japan
The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics, Japan had yet to prove itself as a global force in the automotive realm. The country’s budding carmakers was eager to seize the opportunity that the 1964 Summer...
View ArticleThe Daihatsu HiJet has won Good Design’s lifetime achievement award
The Daihatsu HiJet, perhaps the most ubiquitous of all the many kei trucks in Japan, has won Good Design’s “Long Life” award. It’s one of Japan’s highest honors in the field of industrial design,...
View ArticleSuzuki-Toyota-Daihatsu mid-engine sports car rumored to be under development
There’s a rumor coming out of Japan that a new mid-engine sports car is being jointly developed by Suzuki, Toyota, and Daihatsu. If true — and that’s skyscraper-sized if — it could kill two birds with...
View ArticleSubaru 360 “Beach Van” charms its way to the kei car Grand Prix at the 2022...
In a show where copious horsepower and dazzling bling overshadows less shouty cars, a humble Subaru 360 Custom has taken the Grand Prix for kei cars at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon. Called the Subaru 360...
View ArticleDaihatsu had the best Tokyo Auto Salon display with ten generations of HiJet
The Tokyo Auto Salon is traditionally filled with over-the-top booths filled with over-the-top builds. But this year, it was humble Daihatsu that took the cake with a lineup of HiJet kei trucks that...
View ArticleDaihatsu Charade: the “Little Giant Killer” of the Safari Rally
Quick, think of a Japanese car that has won the Safari Rally. A Daihatsu Charade is probably not the the first thing that pops into mind. The 3-cylinder compact is most remembered in the States as the...
View ArticleThe history of Japanese Rally Cars at the Toyota Automobile Museum
The Toyota Automobile Museum recently ended a special exhibit about the history of Japanese cars in rallying. As those who’ve visited the TAM will know, despite the name, the institution welcomes all...
View ArticleToyota, Daihatsu, and Suzuki to build 1.0-liter sports car?
Toyota, Daihatsu, and Suzuki are reportedly teaming up to build a 1.0-liter sports car. There hasn’t been a real compact sports car from Japan since the Honda S660, and that was discontinued last...
View ArticleJapanese automakers jointly built five EV concepts for the Tokyo Motor Show...
The conventional wisdom is that Japanese automakers are dragging their feet when it comes to EVs. It’s kind of a reductive statement that doesn’t take into account the fact that most are simultaneously...
View ArticleYukihiro Takahashi’s ads for Mazda, Daihatsu, Toyota Cresta and MR2
The seminal electronica band Yellow Magic Orchestra lost one of its founders, drummer and vocalist Yukihiro Takahashi earlier this year. Last week we remembered the band’s keyboardist Ryuichi...
View ArticleA Quiet Greatness is a gorgeous, must-have book about Japanese cars
As much as Japanese cars have permeated automotive culture, they’ve been lacking in one important aspect: the coffee table book. Walk into any bookstore (if you can still find them in your town), and...
View ArticleDaihatsu Vision Copen is gloriously retro and rear-wheel-drive
The original Daihatsu Copen was a decent enough kei car. By the time it was introduced in 2002, the Bubble Era craziness that spawned the Mazda AZ-1, Honda Beat, and Suzuki Cappuccino had faded. Those...
View ArticleDaihatsu bring the kawaii to Tokyo, may be prepping the Vision Copen for export
Daihatsu always has one of the coolest booths at the Tokyo Motor Sh— er, I mean Japan Mobility Show. This year they were one of the few companies to bring some classics from their heritage collection...
View ArticleJapan Automotive Hall of Fame honors Lexus founder, pioneers of...
The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has named four individuals to be inducted into their ranks. Each has been chosen for their contributions to Japan’s automotive industry. As with the four cars that...
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