Copen

Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (ダイハツ工業株式会社, Daihatsu Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha ^?, TYO: 7262, OSE: 7262) is the oldest Japanese manufacturer of cars, known mostly for its smaller models and off-road vehicles. Many of its models are also known as kei jidōsha (or kei cars) in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture.

The name "Daihatsu" is a combination of the first kanji for Ōsaka (大) and the first of the word "engine manufacture" (発動機製造, hatsudōki seizō^?). In the new combination the reading of the "大" is changed from "ō" to "dai", giving "dai hatsu."

Daihatsu was formed in 1951 as successor organisation to Hatsudoki and, by the 1960s, had started exporting cars to Europe, although it did not enjoy any major sales success until well into the 1980s.

The Daihatsu Copen is a 2-door roadster with an aluminium retractable hardtop built by the Japanese car company Daihatsu. It first debuted at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, as the Daihatsu Copen concept. In two years, the OFC-1 was also completed as a precursor to the Copen, based on Daihatsu's front-wheel-drive light-car platform.

The Copen was originally designed with a 660 cc turbocharged engine in order to meet Japanese kei car regulations. However, it no longer meets environmental emissions standards in several other countries, and so in these markets the Copen is fitted with a more powerful 1.3 L engine.

At the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show, Daihatsu revealed two new trim levels of the Copen, the 1.3l and the 'ZZ'.

On January 13th 2011, Daihatsu announced that it would withdraw the Copen from the European market effective from 31st January 2013 due to the ongoing strength of the Japanese Yen.

The Copen has been featured on the UK show Top Gear where James May attempted to find the best convertible car. The contestants were the Mercedes-Benz CLK, Audi A4, Citroën C4, Volkswagen New Beetle, and the Copen. James loved the Copen, but he had one small problem: it felt "toy-ish". For that reason, the Audi turns out to be his favorite.