Daihatsu Copen

COPEN SEASON
Now packing 1.3-litre power, Daihatsu’s Copen roadster offers great value and a unique personality but is it your cup of tea? Steve Walker reports

It’s rare for a mass-produced car to come along and offer something genuinely unique in the marketplace and those that do don’t generally stay unique for very long. Rival marques are always quick to jump on any bandwagon that looks like it could be a goer and that’s what makes Daihatsu’s Copen an interesting case study. There was nothing quite like the Copen when it arrived in 2003 and there’s nothing quite like it now. Sales of the little roadster have never been spectacular but with 1.3-litre power, the Copen looks better equipped to make an impact.

The flat refusal by other manufacturers to follow Daihatsu down the trail they blazed with the Copen could be taken in a number of ways but the fact remains that if you’re after a tiny sportscar with a folding hard-top roof and a small economical engine, your options are limited to one. The Copen was developed in Japan where the Kei-car regulations offer tax and insurance benefits to vehicles below a specific size and engine capacity but it was reengineered to meet European legislation and offered for sale in the UK.

The Copen originally arrived on these shores with the 660cc turbocharged engine that it needed to creep under the Kei-car regulations in Daihatsu’s home market. It only had 63bhp but it revved all the way up to 8,500rpm and it made the Copen quite a hoot to drive. With a low-slung seating position and less than optimum chassis rigidity that was highlighted with the roof down, it was one of those cars that made it feel like you were going a lot faster than you actually were. Today’s Copen has a 1.3-litre petrol engine which is less highly stressed for improved fuel economy and lower exhaust emissions. It’s also more powerful with an 86bhp output at 6,000rpm and quicker, with 0-60mph taken care of in 9.5 seconds instead of 11.7 seconds in old car.

"The 1.3-litre engine may not have the maniac zing of the original turbo unit but it makes more sense for the UK marketplace"

As long as you don’t lever yourself into the Copen expecting a veritable feast of finely honed driving dynamics, you’ll enjoy it. The power steering is direct and accurate while body roll is well contained through the corners, giving you the confidence to press on. The suspension is firm and can become tiresome over poorly surfaced roads but it’s adequate on the flat. The amount of flex in the car’s chassis increases when you pop the hood down but wind in your hair and the engine buzzing in your ears is still the way to enjoy this car. Having said that, the Copen’s size, short overhangs and nimble handling make it a good companion for urban driving where a whole Range of creative parking opportunities open themselves up – the car is less than 3.5m long after all.
The roof is the Copen’s party piece and the car looks good with the hardtop folded or deployed. Fabricated from aluminium, it’s 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. What’s more, a proper metal roof makes a lot of sense in the city, proving a less tempting target for knife-wielding idiots. 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, you’ll achieve more room.

The curvy, retro styling of the Copen is always going to divide opinion. Let’s just say that it isn’t particularly macho and leave it at that. Owners absolutely love the way the Copen looks and that’s despite them having to shoulder the odd Noddy jibe hurled in their direction. This ‘Toytown factor’ should always be considered before you specify your Copen in Yellow or offer a lift to friends who could be considered over-endowed in the ear department.

The Copen’s £10,995 price point immediately sets it apart from every other folding hard-top car on the market. Before the 1.3-litre engine was installed, the Copen was over £2,000 more expensive so now, for the sort of money that would get you a modestly specified supermini, it looks a significant bargain. Standard equipment includes air-conditioning, electric windows, electric mirrors, remote central locking, alloy wheels, front fog lamps, a CD stereo and a small boot spoiler. Sales are unlikely to go off the scale so the Copen will remain an unusual and exclusive sight on the road, just the way owners like it.

Daihatsu has also made a big effort to endow the Copen with strong safety credentials. Despite its size, the car features seatbelts with pretensioners and force-limiters, twin front airbags, side impact protection and twin roll-over bars. There’s also ABS with EBD for safer stopping.

The Copen is a cheap car to buy and to run. The 1.3-litre engine produces creditable economy figures of 47.1mpg on the combined cycle and 56.5mpg under extra urban conditions. In the urban areas where many Copens spend much of their time, the car still manages 36.7mpg which is good for a citycar but great for a folding hard-top coupe – even if this one has uniquely tiny dimensions. Emissions of 140g/km are reasonable and won’t provoke the tax man too strongly while insurance grouping of 9 is hardly the stuff of sportscars.
The appeal of the Copen is obvious. For the kind of money that would otherwise secure you some bog standard supermini or an econo-box citycar clone, you can get a car with real personality. Yes, the Copen is flawed and some buyers will be instantly repelled by the whole cutesy concept but those with whom the little Daihatsu strikes a chord will be convinced they’ve met their motoring match.

The 1.3-litre engine may not have the maniac zing of the original turbo unit but it makes more sense for the UK marketplace. Equipment levels are high and safety provision is surprisingly strong. Could it be that the reason nobody else has followed Daihatsu into the micro roadster sector is that they don’t think they could do any better? Maybe not but in its own personal niche market of one, the Copen is the default choice.