A most-epic-factory-interior-fabric challenger appears...!

Another very sweet little commuter.. and a bloody rare one at that nowadays..!

A second generation, G11-chassis Daihatsu Charade.

Produced from 1983-1987, with a mid-life update smack-bang in the middle of those years - 1985.
This particular car is the earlier of those, a 1984 build, with the smaller standard-sized rectangle headlights.

Love the simple white and black exterior with the silver steel wheels; and the red pinstriping in the bumpers gives me a thouroughly VW GTI feel.
Overall a nice and very inoffensive shape, and I like that grille detailing; but the random front quarter marker/indicator placement, and the high-roof? Not so much..!


What I do really like here, is whats inside..

Ignoring the seat fabric, everything is as simple and inoffensive inside as it is out.
..but that fabric.. that large white/black and red pin-stripe plaid that so perfectly matches the exterior colourway...
...well that's just Vivian-rivaling awesomeness. 

So just the same as with that Daihatsu Mira I had posted about a while back; despite being a low spec variant of a basic model, Its the thoroughly excellent interior/exterior colour co-ordination that I'm loving here.
Since both a Daihatsu's from the exact same year, well here's a huge thumbs up for the person responsible!

Some more little Advan love...

As I have repeatedly mentioned here, here, and even further back here; I absolutely love the Advan A3A.

I was stoked to be able to pick up a neat set of these a little while back, as its one of my absolute all-time favourite wheel designs. Not just good looking for a 3-spoke (a worthwhile qualification there..!), its just a damn good looking wheel full-stop.

Introduced back in 1979 and produced essentially unchanged for decades following. 13x6 and 14x6 are the most common sizes by far; but wider sizes were available, and get jumped on quickly amongst a fleet of 6" wide versions...

Biggest pain for later FF Corolla, Civic, and MX5 owners? 4x114.3 only... damn tease...

So nicely proportioned...there is literally nothing about this design I would want to change.

The shape of the centre is a perfect medium between having 3-spokes, and simply having a chunky triangle for a centre!
Love the cast 'Advan' in the face (some have Advan Racing), the square lug nut holes, and the unnecessarily large centre cap. All good things...

Reasonable caliper clearance compared to some wheels from this era, and neat little cutouts on the back of the spokes leaving small ribs to support the face.
That's some nice thorough paint work too...!

Ahh... <3

Another awesome little Starlet...

Yet again, I'm reminded of my disappointment in Toyota Australia for not bringing this model out here.. <_<
It wasn't until the mid 90's - three generations of Starlet later - that the name finally hit Aussie roads. Not only were the generations skipped nearly as fantastic as the P6 above; but the EP91's we did recieve were a far cry from the Glanza V..
ahh.. the EP91 Life. <_<

I've ranted about these cars before, so I'll be breif; the major appeal here is that this was the last RWD Starlet - something unique for this bodystyle and size.

As a nice example of how cool these things can look modified, is this very late (1984 build) KP61 Starlet 3door.

..and how I like them. wearing the hilariously exaggerated N2 aero. I cant fault the styling of these add-ons.. they really compliment the KP61's so nicely.

The overall look is helped further by one of my all time favourite wheels - the Advan A3A- here in what look to be 13x8.
These are fittingly wrapped in matching Advan tyres, with a Yokohama decal nearby to tie everything in nicely..!

Relatively neat and complete in here compared to some becauseracecar KP61 interiors I've seen. Classic Bride and Red Tom's wheel are nice enough additions...
Not sure what spec this car was originally, but the Tacho and 5-speed (according to the great faux-wood Toyota shift knob) are welcome!

Running the show is a warmed-over 4K, at heart a very basic yet sturdy 1.3litre four. I love these with later 4AGE's fitted in the 4K's place; but would happily flog the shyte out of this!



Would. definitely. drive.
Fortunately being pre-1989, the KP61 is a non-issue for import to Australia. However, the cost of purchase in Japan, shipping, and the eagerness of this era of Toyota to rust; means you'll need to be keen!
Love them, but will just have to keep watering my money-tree for the time being.. <_<

P910...

Neat high-spec example of the P910 Datsun/Nissan Bluebird - the first of three generations of Bluebird that were available through the 80's.

Released very late the decade before, this model was on the market until 1983.

This particular car is a upper spec, and relatively late build - a 1982 P910 Bluebird SSS Turbo-X.

While available as a 4dr pillarless hardtop; this one is a traditional pillared sedan. Interestingly similar to the Ford Cortina from the same era; the design is neat and very simple.. with a squared 3-box design that looks near enough symmetrical about the B-pillar!
Late days for the fender mirrors, but I love them.

The P910 was the last generation of RWD Bluebirds; so the Z18ET - a SOHC 1.8litre injected and turbo four - sits longnitudinally up front, driving the rear wheels.

Inside this less than 100,000km/60,000mi example, impressively clean for its 31years of use.
The bare two-spoke wheel and acres of grey is drab for what is a performance trim in the model range, bur nothing offensive here.


Something different. :)