It's a unique little bit of automotive Japan. It's over here and it sounds - and even looks - bizarre and absurd, writes Andrew Hamilton
Who ever heard of a sports car with a 659cc engine displacement? But it's for real, enhanced by four cylinders, turbo-charging and intercooling.
Welcome to the Daihatsu Copen. Just 3.4 metres long, it's what the Japanese call a K class car, a segment that proliferates in the crowded streets of Tokyo and other major cities, yet attracts little or no interest in Europe.
We just don't like our cars that small: K class engines are restricted to 660cc displacement with a power output not exceeding 63bhp.
During a recent road test, it registered high on the interest barometer. People stared - we could almost hear them asking what is it?
The Daihatsu badge isn't that familiar for a start and then there's Copen of which probably most Irish motorists have never heard.
So let's put it in perspective. This member of the Japanese K club was sent to Europe as a sort of teaser. It made its debut at the British motor show in Birmingham all of two years ago, and was such a crowd-pleaser that Daihatsu decided to modify the Japanese model to satisfy European Type approval regulations. The Copen has been on sale here since early this year.
Before we get down to coping with Copen on the road, some words on its Lilliputian looks. Basically it has been shrunk by 33 per cent, using a chopped-down chassis from the sibling Cuore. This accounts for the novelty appearance but aesthetically you feel the proportions are a bit off and there should be more substance or size.
Maybe we are just adopting a grown-up European attitude. Of course, Copen isn't in its natural Japanese habitat. Daihatsu, after all, sells more than 500,000 mini or K cars there every year and rightfully lays claim to know a thing or two about penny packet power plants.
The road experience was like the curate's egg, good in parts. The good bits were when the roads were well surfaced without irregularity or blemish, for a lot of us the exception rather than the rule.
The Copen was enjoyable then, showing impressive road adhesion and surprising vitality from its tiny all-aluminium mill developing 67bhp. For the record: it should sprint from 0 to 62mph (100km/h) in 11.7 seconds while top speed is a creditable 107mph (170km/h).
More interesting, perhaps, is the fact that it pulls well from low speeds. In fifth gear it will accelerate strongly from a little above 30mph, accompanied by the background sound of the small turbo which whistles while it works.
You could almost write the script for the Copen's ride comfort on bad B roads and mean uneven streets. It's distinctly unpleasant with plenty of shake and rattle - and when the roof is up there's much creaking and groaning.
Of course, the unpleasantness is accentuated by the smaller-than-small dimensions, the low-slung seating and proximity to the road.
Like all thoroughly modern roadsters, the Copen offers an electrically operated foldaway hard-top roof which can be lowered and upped from the driver's seat at the touch of a switch - it's an operation that takes about 20 seconds in each direction.
The downside of being topless is that with the hard top stowed in the boot, there's little or no remaining space. Small personal effects might just be stored beneath the load-limiting tonneau cover.
So, on sunny days in the topless mode, you will have to travel light. Forget a long weekend: a short weekend with only a change of underwear and the toothbrush seems more practical.
The cabin is very intimate. Larger European frames will have do a little body manipulation to gain entry. Once inside, though, we had the impression it stretched to fit our frame.
Naturally all the controls are close at hand. There is ample fore and aft movement in the seats to accommodate six-footers. The only time you really notice the diminutive size is when alongside something massive, such as a VW Golf or Ford Focus.
We had occasion to use the Copen around the Dublin area where it proved its worth, allowing parking on postage stamp spaces. Its light steering, very flexible engine and pint-pot dimensions seem readymade for an urban environment. No wonder it's such a hit in Japan's stop-start cities.
With 659ccs and hitting the scales at just 823kg, you might expect the Copen to be marvellously frugal. The sporty shape, however, induces sports car driving and behaviour, especially with go-faster turbocharging. One fuel test mostly in the Dublin city area returned 30mpg. On a longer country run with plenty of open road, consumption was boosted to nearly 37mpg. Official figures show urban, extra urban and combined figures of 35.8, 50.4 and 44.1 respectively. The tank takes 40 litres.
Standard equipment on the Copen includes alloy wheels, air conditioning, anti-lock brakes with electronic force distribution, a CD tuner, electric windows, height adjustable steering, and height adjustment for the headlights. Our test car even had heated seats - an optional extra on top of the €25,495 ex-works asking price.
Sadly, even with our inflated car prices, the Copen seems poor value for money. Its miniature form doesn't stack up against bigger and more substantial competitors such as the Peugeot 206CC or the VW Beetle Cabriolet, the former selling for a little less and the latter for a little more. Both offer rear seating, even if it is somewhat limited.
A closer size competitor has to be the Smart roadster at an amazing €26.995, amazing because we think it's far more than the car is worth.
Of course, the concept of paying more for less in coupé/cabriolet form is well established in the Irish and European motor industry. But cars such as the Copen and its immediate flashy competitors aren't likely to shake the automotive world in Ireland or elsewhere. It's niche business and the best of them in terms of numbers sold is the 206CC with a big female audience.
Copen isn't for us and we reckon it isn't for most people, even those with sporty, cabriolet and fun-loving pretensions. It's endearing, but only to a point: maybe Japanese "miniautorisation" is that point.
It's just too small, too impractical and offers less than the competition, except the Smart.