Daihatsu Naked
Today's topic of interest is one of those fascinating little kei cars found in the Japanese home market. A kei car cannot exceed certain exterior dimensions, and is limited to a 660cc motor of no more than 64 HP. A car which observes these limitations is easier to register under Japanese law and qualifies for favorable tax and insurance treatment.
Our subject was produced by Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu from 2000 to 2004, and is a variation on the 5th-generation Mira 5-door hatchback. It has a squared-off shape, and the many "industrial" details like the chiseled character lines on the doors, the "bolt heads" on the bumper and nosepiece, and the exposed door hinges, give it a "techno" or "futuristic" feeling. If they'd had four-passenger economy cars in Blade Runner, they might've looked like this little fella.
The name of this delightful little car? We'll get to that in a minute.
Japanese consumer products, including automobiles, quite often have English names (or at least names that sound "Western") rather than Japanese. As one leading authority on the phenomenon explains:
"English is used as a design element in Japanese products and advertising to give them a modern look and feel (or just to “look cool”). . . . Quite often it is easier to come up with English names than Japanese for a particular product. New products are brought to the marketplace in Japan more than anywhere else in the world and Japanese words and slogans quickly get used up. Japanese graphic designers will often tell you that English is widespread because the Japanese writing script (or scripts) limits their creativity - there are only so many ways to display their language, and only so many different types of fonts to use."
Since the English language is used as a design element, rather than as an attempt to communicate with English-speaking people, there is sometimes a lack of attention to spelling, grammar, and idiom, and hilarity ensues. In the Japanese automotive world, this practice has led to such curiosities as the Toyota Carina "EXCITING VERSION" and the mid-engined Honda Beat roadster which is badged as the "TYPE R MIDSHIP AMUSEMENT." (The same thing happens in reverse--the Chinese and Japanese get a good laugh out of the mis-use of their written characters by Westerners in product labels, magazine graphics, and tattoos.)
The previous examples, however, pale in comparison to the name of today's featured vehicle.
This cute little car is the Daihatsu NAKED.
I am not making this up.
Notice the name badge on the hatch in the photo above. "NAKED" is indeed the name of the car, and that's the bare facts. (Groan!) The "Naked truth," as it were. (Double groan!) No cover-up here. (Stop with the puns already!) Just what possessed Daihatsu to give this car that name has never been adequately explained, at least not in any English-language source I was able to find.
The Naked is a fairly typical kei car, 133.6 inches long overall, on a 92.9 inch wheelbase. It has a fuel-injected 3-cylinder engine, and can be had with all-wheel drive. Like most kei cars, it is a miracle of space efficiency, as demonstrated by a couple of rubbery CGI cartoon characters in this commercial:
There appears (from the looks of this Japanese-language website, and this one) to be a community of Naked enthusiasts in Japan (meaning "enthusiasts for the Daihatsu Naked," not "people who drive around Japan naked") who get a kick out of customizing and modifying their Daihatsus. As with other kei cars we've covered in this space, there are aftermarket turbo kits and other upgrades which can turn a humble stark Naked--oops, I mean stock Naked--into a customized high-performance streak--er, I mean street--machine. For instance, check out this video walk-around of a customized Naked:
I'll leave you with another commercial, which features American-born champion Sumo wrestler "KONISHIKI" pitching a Naked with the "Memorial Edition" sound system--note the English name--using a fishing pole and a soundtrack from a child's music box:
I don't speak Japanese, so I don't know whose memory the sound system is dedicated to, or what the fishing pole has to do with anything. If anyone out there in reader-land can explain, please leave a comment below.
The photo of the white Naked at the top of this article came from Wikimedia Commons. The other photos are from a Japanese-language website captioned (in English) "fun to (drive) DAIHATSU NAKED!" And with that, the subject is clothed . . . uh, sorry, I meant closed.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Jim Bob on December 12, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Yes, Saturn WOULD exist if it were not for European designs. The original Saturns were US designs, not European. Second, the Opel's sold at Buick dealers were made by Isuzu, not Opel of Germany. If you really want to reference a good example of internationalism in GM why, oh why, use the Chevette? It was an epically horrible car. It sold well because of fuel prices, not because it was lust-worthy.
I will agree though that the Volt is not what GM should pin it's hopes on. A $50,000 car the size of a Cobalt with the ability to run on electricity as it's only redeeming quality will not save the company. Not enough people have taken leave of their senses enough to spend BMW money on a mediocre electric subcompact. You would not save enough money on gas to pay for the price difference, unless you used it as a cab or for pizza delivery. In that case though, the 40 mile electric range would be a real problem, and you would end up running on the internal combustion engine anyhow, so is it really that much better?
Anthony Cagle on December 13, 2008 at 09:54 AM
I kinda quit differentiating b/w "American" and "non-American" cars a while ago. Once we got to where Toyotas and Hondas were built in Tennessee, Chevys built in Mexico, Fords built in Japan but designed in Sweden (or whatever), it quit making much sense.
I can't see myself ever buying one of these. . . .I prefer at least a quarter-acre of hood between me and oncoming traffic.
CGHill on December 13, 2008 at 02:25 PM
"Second, the Opel's sold at Buick dealers were made by Isuzu, not Opel of Germany."
Well, the last ones, anyway, in the last half of the 1970s. The Mantas and Kadetts and Rekords before that were real live European Opels.
Collin on December 13, 2008 at 03:22 PM
I can't say I love the styling, but if I could get my hands on one,(key word: cheap) I'd drive it. As far as the risk of getting plowed by an SUV, I've come to a realization: as I was driving home on I- 65 in my car (a 1991 Honda Accord coupe with 231,000 miles on it, headlights that don't line up right (previous owner's fault, the front end was wrecked), a head gasket held together with Bar's Leaks (good stuff, I might add...), and no power steering (I don't know what happened; when I got the car the PS pump was gone, and I didn't mind not having it enough to fix it)) I was cruising along at about 75 MPH and nearly got plowed straight to the morgue by some moron in a Ford Excursion. I realized that it doesn't really matter what you drive, there will always be someone bigger than you, and you are going to get killed anyway (full disclosure: I don't have kids to worry about), so I am going to drive what I want (and can afford). I've driven a SUV (a Trailblazer): it was okay, and had enough power, but I couldn't see very well out of it, and at speeds above 50 MPH the handling was too bouncy, and I hate parking big vehicles. I am looking to get a different vehicle, an Aries K to be exact (Yes, I realize it would likely be inferior to my car in every way, but I still want one), and hope to find one of the manuals, but will likely wind up settling for the 3 speed automatic. Thats okay, because I want to drive one anyway, whether it has a zillion airbags and crumple zones or not.
SwedishMetal on December 15, 2008 at 06:06 AM
On-topic:
i can see why it's called "Naked". it's probably a reference to the spare minimalistic design with "exposed bolts" and other nonsense.
the small car i would like to see is the daihatsu materia: http://www.daihatsu.com/catalogue/materia/index.html
i saw one in germany and loved the design. though i think other guys on here are right, that the preferences of most people in america would make such a vehicle a niche car at best. we all say we want small cars, but most folks simply traded in SUVs for "crossovers" which aren't much smaller.
...m... on December 27, 2008 at 07:13 AM
...i drive an elise, which, along with the smart, is about as close to a kei car as one can get in the united states...yes, the attrition rate from oblivious road tanks running us over is notably high, but injuries not so much: federal crash structure, airbag, and antilock brake requirements do their job fairly well, albeit at a considerable expense of weight and money...
...that latter point, along with our high-speed interstate infrastructure, is really why we'll never see kei cars here: low-cost, low-power, lightweight road cars aren't viable under federal usage patterns...it's a shame, really, because kei car designs, besides being ideally suited to commuter roles, are at liberty to implement some really brilliant ideas...their super-low cost encourages a rapid purchase cycle and almost seasonal innovation, a bravado which more-expensive north american cars just can't afford...
mikemuses on January 05, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Naked. As in Exposed. All the nuts and bolts are visible, and not concealed as on other cars, so this stripped down little car is Naked.