"Leather seats and a Momo steering wheel. The engine does 8,500 revs, and there's a nice cold metal ball on the gear stick. It's a sort of Sony Ferrari; same sort of thing, but smaller."
- James May's verdict on the Copen
The first-generation Daihatsu Copen was a Japanese kei-car convertible built by Daihatsu from 2002 to 2012, with the car being exported to several non-domestic markets such as the UK throughout that duration. Ever since its debut, the diminutive roadster has been well-liked by Top Gear, who would later name it as one of the 500 coolest cars ever made.
Appearances[]
Series 2, Episode 8[]
The Copen which appeared in Series 2, Episode 8.
The Copen would make its first Top Gear appearance in Series 2, Episode 8, during a test which saw the duo of May and Hammond test out a large variety of new convertibles in the Lake District. After a previous road test of the Volkswagen New Beetle which ended in disaster as it started to rain while the pair were driving with the roof down, May decided that what the pair needed was a car which could quickly convert from open-top to hard-top in the midst of the unpredictable English weather. Though a short review due to the number of cars the pair had to cover, May clearly enjoyed the car, who likened it to a "toy" which nonetheless cost £13,000 back in 2003.
Series 3, Episode 5[]
The Copen makes an appearance as a picture in Series 3, Episode 5, where Clarkson puts it in the "Uncool" category of the Cool Wall after an audience member called the Copen "an expensive shoe".
Series 1, Episode 2 (COTP)[]
The Copen, racing through Japanese traffic.
The Copen would return after more than a decade as part of the second episode of James May's Cars of the People, in a race between itself and the Honda Super Cub to determine which of the two was superior for food delivery, with the pair asked to deliver noodles to Honda's global headquarters in Aoyama, Tokyo. After a game of Janken (Rock-Paper-Scissors) which May lost, the Copen was given to Le Mans-winning race driver Toshio Suzuki.
Though the Copen led throughout most of the race (mainly as a result of May getting stuck in traffic lights), May eventually "used his noodle" and navigated footpaths and other places where the car couldn't go, catching up and eventually overtaking Suzuki, delivering his package to Masayuki Takayama before Suzuki could do so.