All you need to know about DAIHATSU
Born: 1907
Nationality: Japanese
The company's roots go back to the formation by professors Yoshinki and Turumi from Osaka University of the Hatsudoki Seizo Company to make industrial engines. By 1919 the company had completed production of two prototype trucks, but it wasn't until 1930 that Hatsudoki rolled out Japan's first domestically produced car, the the 500 cc three-wheeler Model HA.
Over the next eight years four more models were released, including Japan's first small four-wheel car, an air-cooled 730 cc 2-cylinder prototype. Demand for it was such that the company had to build a manufacturing plant in Ikeda in 1938. That year, an open-top 4WD sports car prototype was developed, powered by a 1.2 litre engine and a three-speed transmission that allowed it to reach speeds of up to 70 km/h.
In the rebuilding of the Japanese economy after the second World War, the name was changed to Daihatsu Kogyo in 1951. Sales of its three-wheel automobiles were such that by 1957 it began an export programme.
In 1967, Daihatsu signed a business association with Toyota Motor Company, and is still is a developer and supplier of engines, including the VVT-i unit in the Yaris, and a builder of bodies for Toyota. By 1970 it had became the first Japanese car maker to export vehicles to Britain. Sales of cars like the Charade - first introduced in 1977 with a three-cylinder 993 cc engine - soared.
The Charade had a number of evolutions, and in the early 1990s was popular here. Sporting ambitions were realised in 1993 when a Charade GTti captured a first place class win and fifth place overall in the 41st Safari Rally.
Daihatsu remained true to its ethos of producing small cars - Cuore from 1981, Move from 1995, the Terios from 1997, the Sirion from 1998, and the Charade returned in brand-new boxy form to the Irish market this year. But it has also built tough 4WD workhorses like the FourTrak, and has a substantial commercial vehicles operation.
Best Car: The Charade of the early 1990s.
Worst Car: The Applause , only because of its egotistic name, not its sound mechanicals.
Weirdest Car: The DaihatsuBee three-wheeler, which was produced from 1951 to 1956 powered by a 20 hp 300 cc engine.