Tuesday 7th April 2015

Daihatsu Charade GTti: Spotted

Hot hatch in the best Japanese fashion: incredibly dull body cloaking a bonkers engine

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Alright, it's quite expensive. We can all appreciate a Charade GTti but it would take a real die-hard enthusiast to spend £9K on one. That or a significant lottery win where all car buying fantasies, however esoteric, can be fulfilled.

Pulse racing yet?

But now is not the time to carp on about price. That's why the forum exists. Here we can celebrate why the GTti was (and remains) a fascinating little car, and one that provides a great template for future hot hatches too.

The fastest Charade held the laudable honour of the world's most powerful production 1.0-litre car for a very long time. Three cylinders, 993cc, dual overhead camshafts and a turbo made 100hp, an incredible achievement for 1987. And it's only now in a world of Ecoboost engines where that sort of output is being matched from such a small capacity. In the PH office we've managed to suggest the Brabus Smarts too and, er, that's it. All other suggestions for sub-1,000cc rockets welcome!

With a kerbweight of around 800kg, performance was sprightly to say the least. Top speed was 115mph according to Daihatsu; depending on where you read, 60mph arrived anywhere between 7.7 and 8.5 seconds. Certainly fast enough then, and of course accompanied by a really distinctive three-cylinder soundtrack. Daihatsu even rallied them, just to prove how tough the little Charades were.

Can't be many left now...

Like very nearly all Japanese performance car heroes, the GTti isn't what you would call a looker. It's very much plain old Charade outside, matched inside by a feast of grey plastic. To people like us it's saved by 'Twin Cam 12 Valve Turbo' on the bumpers and GTti badges, but don't expect kudos anywhere. Even at the garden centre.

Like a few old cars now though, the Charade proves what new cars should be aiming for. Just recently we discussed how the pocket rocket has disappeared and this is just the thing that should be emulated: low weight and small displacement makes it really efficient as well as fun. Keeping the exterior fairly modest is probably a wise idea too.

This particular GTti is for sale at the same place as the EK9 Civic Type R featured recently, and is well worth a look for fans of Japanese fast cars. Predictably given that price, it's immaculate, with only 24,000 dry miles, a pristine body and faultless interior. It's left-hand drive because it's a Belgian car once. And owned by an Andalucian rally team...

Whatever, it's a very cool and very rare hot hatch. Could it be used on the road again in such condition? Fingers crossed someone will. It would guarantee a Sunday Service hero's welcome for a start...

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DAIHATSU CHARADE GTTI
Engine: 993cc 3-cyl turbo
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 100@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 93@3,500rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1989
Recorded mileage: 24,000
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £8,995

See the original advert here.

 

[MissChief]

Nice, but not at that price! You could get a good E46 M3 for that!

[treetops]

Driven one.

Fun, but not £8995 of fun.

Even at £4000 it would feel a touch expensive.

[Quhet]

Absolutely bonkers price. There is something about old Jap hot hatches though... When I was in New Zealand earlier this year, there were a surprising number about

[alburnie]

Magic, I owned one in 1990 something, I loved it and people couldn't believe how quick it was. We used to blat around the old Tangmere airfield in Sussex with my mates in an MR2 and 1.9 PUG. It was just as quick and had entertaining lift off oversteer, however less scary than the PUG. Seats were one piece cheapos, covered in nice velour, however it had a little turbo gauge on the dash to keep you entertained. I remember it had tyres that were an odd size to find. This one at +9k is a bit steep but try finding one now? Silver was a better colour IMO. They could easily be tuned to 140bhp and a common upgrade was a Golf gti backbox to get more rumble. This has made my day.

[nicholasm]

Daihatsu definitely claimed a 0-60mph time of 7.7 seconds in their adverts at the time. I remember a magazine advert with that figure, together with a picture of a Charade GTti indicating to overtake another hot hatch (Golf GTI 8v, IIRC). The 12-year-old me was impressed by that but, judging by the article, that time may have been a bit optimistic!

[RumbleOfThunder]

Hate to be a dick but it's worth mentioning the 1.0 Ecoboost now makes 140bhp in the Fiesta "Black" and "Red" editions.

[jzakariya]

Brings back great memories. My first car was a black and red Turbo charged version, of '84 vintage. The earlier model to this. It was a screamer ! It had been modified by DeTomaso and had that manufacturers logo on the grill. I always imagined I was driving a Pantera :-)

[Mercury00]

What a beast! Just my kind of car.

[IrishAsal]

Imp engines of 998cc can push 100bhp in racing trim with no turbo and only 8 valves.

I love these Daihatsu's but that's bonkers cash!!

[Turbobanana]

A lovely blast from the past. But... at that price one of two things will happen:

It'll sell immediately to a true fan with deep pockets
...or...
It'll still be for sale this time next year, at £6000

[soad]

I'm seeing a mini CRX?

[oversteerer]

I used to lust after these when I was in my late teens and early twenties. However, the few I saw in the flesh were broken down at the side of the road with their bonnets up.

[r11co]

RumbleOfThunder said:

Hate to be a dick but it's worth mentioning the 1.0 Ecoboost now makes 140bhp in the Fiesta "Black" and "Red" editions.

For about 30,000 miles if you are lucky....

A great looking wee thing even now. This is priced on condition and rarity. Expensive, but I doubt you'll find another.

[Limpet]

Ford 1.0 Ecoboost makes 125 bhp from a near identical configuration. But the Daihatsu engine was very impressive for its time.

If it weren't for the lettering on the rubbing strips down each side, this could have been a good shout for the Q-car thread. Utterly boring looking thing that packed a surprising punch,

[RumbleOfThunder]

r11co said:

RumbleOfThunder said:

Hate to be a dick but it's worth mentioning the 1.0 Ecoboost now makes 140bhp in the Fiesta "Black" and "Red" editions.

For about 30,000 miles if you are lucky....

Anecdotal evidence or nonsense?

[Howard-]

r11co said:

For about 30,000 miles if you are lucky....

It's the same as a 280bhp turbocharged 2.0 engine. Or a 250bhp turbocharged 2.0 if compared to the 125bhp Ecoboost. Hardly racing engine-esque groundbreaking levels of specific output. I dare say the engine has been designed to be a tough little unit, but time will ultimately tell.

[Limpet]

There's a good bet it will last longer between major rebuilds than a CVH ever did!

[fullleather]

IIRC there was not 'boost' needle as such, it featured a turbine symbol which glowed red under acceleration?

[Billy_rfc]

Probably a better bet to get a grey import with the steering wheel on the right side or go for a Starlet. In fact, just get the Starlet

[Berkut666]

Sub 1000CC Hot Hatches? What about the other Daihatsu oddity Daihatsu Avanzato tr-xx R4. Was it not under 1000cc and 4WD?