Much has been made about the unfortunately chosen name of Daihatsu’s B-segment staple, but in the case of this first-generation three-door, there’s room for some extra scrutiny. Thanks to RiveraNotario for bringing this interestingly styled variant of the Charade to my attention.
Unlike the subtle, high-quality third generation machine sold in the US, the styling of the “Runabout” coupe, sold from 1978 until 1983, really was a farce. Coming just after the height of the Brougham Epoch and during the US’s custom van boom, its relatively conventional two-box styling was tarnished by extra windows in its C-pillars in what must’ve been an attempt to convey either playfulness or sophistication. It very well could’ve gone over well in the marketplace, but it’s a detail which nevertheless clashes with the rest of the car. The five-door has a much more straightforward look.
What do you think? Was Daihatsu aiming for a custom van lookalike, or was the Runabout more of a nod to supermini buyers who aspired to an American luxury machine?
Related reading: 1989 Daihatsu Charade and 1977 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon
Charade: from the French provincial “charrado” which means “chat”. And the third definition, according to Webster’s Collegiate, is “an empty or deceptive act.”
So this Charade was appropriately named.
PS/I like these little cars.
Reminds me of the laundromat.
Looks like an early-70s design with an 80s square front end tacked on. I didn’t know these existed.
They were released in the late 70’s I think, if you google you’ll see that the earlier version with round lamps etc is a bit more cohesive looking.
Yes, they were great little machines…
I bought one in ’87..
It was a 1980 Jap import 5 door hatchback, but with circular headlights (the rectangular headlight version shown in the colour brochure was a later version of the Charade)
So, the original Charade was a transaxled 5 speed 3 cylinder of 993cc from memory.. the engine was either carburetted or an injected turbcharged diesel of the same capacity
It was a joy to drive.. low geared and very throttle responsive with that marvellous syncopated three cylinder beat with the balance factor of an inline six …very smooth !!
On the open road it was a different story. There was a lot of both engine and road noise to put up with. It was no inter state cruiser, but it was not meant to be. The Charade was the perfect city shopping basket. Nippy, easy to manoeuvre and park and to garage. And as cheap as chips to run on regular fuel if you were a scrooge. Premium fuel just gave it’s performance a sparkling edge.
Actually I found it more fun to drive than my 998 Mini Cooper.. .. ..
It was a gorgeous high quality thick lustrous deep metallic maroon, and it was the first car I’d ever owned with air conditioning (freezing cold!) 🙂
What a great little car it was
‘Sands of Time’ by Peter Reynolds. World’s shortest opera coming in at 3 minutes and 34 seconds. (Wikipedia)
Like Jim Grey, I had no idea that these were ever out there. Had I ever seen one, I am quite sure that I would have remembered it.
This looks like an opera window in some sort of vinyl roof. But I guess it doesn’t count.
I would have been happy to drive this. To understand this you needed to see some of the junk I did drive. Never mind, I would rather you didn’t. Some things better left to die.
I think we only saw the 5 door here I’m sure I’d renember the opera window had they been around, its only there to cure the huge blind spot.
Bryce, we definitely got the 3 door ones, I remember that little port-hole window vividly. Not sure if they were NZ-new or used imports though.
A friend had one of these is 5-door guise, somehow one day we packed 7 people into it!
Pretty sure they were NZ-new; I remember them from the early 80s before the imports started.
Ah that explains it I was in Aussie in the 80s right thru till 03.
Yes, we definitely got them NZ-new badged as the Charade Runabout in XG, XO, & XTE models with a 1L 3-cylinder. The NZ-market brochure just popped up on Trademe:
Why not? A subcompact like this is never going to be beautiful, but nothing says it has to be completely dull. That whimsical roofline adds some interest; what Jim Nance (Packard’s last president) used to call “a difference to sell”.
Now that porthole makes that mediocre econobox look so classy! Not!
My First Brougham ™. We only got the five door here!
First opera window I don’t like.
Who was Daihatsu’s stylist?
Bruce Lido?
Ok, I know…that was terrible….I’ll see myself out.
I posted a 5 door to the Cohort recently but I’ve never seen a 3 door with a porthole.
What an…interesting looking little car. It’s got character, though, I’ll give it that.
If you had said this was a Subaru I wouldn’t have been surprised…to my eye it shares some “feeling” with their 70’s offerings.
I honestly thought that first photo was an aftermarket conversion – what could they have been thinking? No wonder we only got the five door version, but I am sure I have seen a three-door version without the porthole.