Each year the Japanese Automotive Hall of Fame inducts a selection of historic cars. Past examples have included iconic sports cars like the Toyota 2000GT and S30 Nissan Fairlady Z, or race cars like the Honda RA272 and Mazda 787B. For 2025, the inductees were quite a bit more obscure. We missed this story when the inductees were announced in November, but though these vehicles aren’t on the tips of most tongues they’re still worth a mention.
Daihatsu Charade and Daihatsu were economical reliable motoring with flair.
From my first 1000 cc turbo charade in 1982 to two more 4 cylinder 1300 Charade driven across Australian deserts, to my YRV turbo. What a car ! could keep up with cars twice their price in performance. Pity Toyota took over and branded Charade on Indonesian Toyota’s.