The sportscar that Perodua never got to make

From the start, Perodua has focussed on small, practical and affordable cars, just like its technical partner and shareholder, Daihatsu Motor, which specialises in compact cars, especially the kei cars for the Japanese market.

In earlier years (the company is 73 years old), the automaker had also indulged in some sportscars, starting with a prototype Sport model which was designed by the Vignale studio in Italy in 1963. Later on, Daihatsu produced the Compagno Spider (following the Italian name for convertibles).

In 2014, Daihatsu launched the second generation of its little convertible, the Copen. The first generation of the Daihatsu Copen had been production between 2002 and 2012 and was among the popular kei-car roadsters in Japan. Its design was said to have been inspired by the Audi TT and Nissan Figaro and while it had a 660 cc engine for the domestic market, export models had a 1.3-litre engine.

The name of the model – Kopen – was a combination of Kei-car, and ‘Open’, referring to its open top. As it was a convertible, the ‘k’ was changed to ‘c’.

This model attracted the interest of the people at Perodua when it came out and a study was even carried out to see if it would be viable. Of course, it would have to be produced in Malaysia like all Perodua models (with just one exception in 2008). That meant having sufficient volume to be able to sell at a reasonable price level.

In fact, the study reached a stage where a team from Perodua had some discussions with Daihatsu in late 2015. There was hope that Perodua could get to make the sportscar under its brand. Unfortunately, the idea was not viable (probably the numbers just were not high enough) and that was the end of it.

Our friend Theottle was thinking about the Copen recently and remembered that there were rumours about Perodua making it, so he put his active right hand to work and came out with what a Perodua Kopen would look like.

While enthusiasts want sportscars, automakers must also have sufficient demand to be able to price them affordably. If the demand is such that the volume is in the thousands, then they will have to price their sportscars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis – which only a relatively small number of people can afford.

Proton Ultimate – the sportscar dream that never came true