The Daihatsu Charade is a supermini car produced by the Japanese manufacturer
Daihatsu from 1977 to 2000. It is considered by Daihatsu as a "large
compact" car, to differentiate it from the smaller compacts in its line-up,
such as the Daihatsu Mira. It replaced the Daihatsu Consorte, although the
Charmant took over from the bigger-engined Consortes.
In China, the Daihatsu Charade is called Xiali and is produced by FAW Tianjin,
under the registered mark of "China FAW". From September 1986 to 2009, it
sold over 1.5 million units in that country.
First generation The first generation appeared in October
1977. It was a front-engined front-wheel drive car, originally available only as
a five-door hatchback, powered by a 993 cc three-cylinder, all-aluminum engine
with 50 PS. Japanese market cars claimed 55 PS JIS at 5,500 rpm. The three-door
hatchback version, introduced in the fall of 1978, received two little round
opera windows in the C-pillars. The Charade was a surprise best-seller in
Japan, where ever tighter emissions standards had made many observers
consider the one-litre car dead in the marketplace. The Charade became an
overnight success and also became the Japanese "Car of the Year" for 1979.
The early G10 had round headlights and the later G10 had square headlights. The
Series 2 was introduced for 1981. Between the introduction in 1977, and
December 1982, Daihatsu built 89,792 G10/G20 type Charades.
The Daihatsu Charade was very popular in Chile and some other Latin American
countries during the 1970s and 1980s. Originally the same as in the rest of
the world, later Chilean Charades came equipped with a downsleeved 843 cc
version of Daihatsu's three-cylinder engine. This engine produced 41 PS at
5,500 rpm and has also appeared in export versions of the Daihatsu Hijet.
The G20 appeared in 1980 and was developed as a result of a Chilean
decision to lower import tariffs on cars with engines of less than 850 cc. The
G20 was also able to run on low-octane fuel or even ethanol. The first G20
version had round headlights, while the second generation G20 received the same
facelift as did the G10, meaning square headlights and slightly different rear
lights. The three-door "Runabout" retained the larger 1,000 cc CB20
engine, and also received a five-speed manual transmission and a tachometer.
Greece The Greek Automeccanica company, founded
in 1979, developed an off-road style torpedo design version of the Charade à
la the Citroën Méhari. With a metal body, the "Zebra" used Daihatsu
mechanicals, grille and headlights, and many other Daihatsu parts. Production
began in 1981 and continued until 1985, by which point changing Greek tax laws
meant that this "fun car" could no longer be registered as a commercial
vehicle and the market evaporated. The very first cars used the Series 1 round
headlights; these were changed to the square Series 2 units before the first
year of production had ended. Automeccanica also assembled regular
Charades. Second generation
The second generation was released in March 1983, again as a three- or a
five-door hatchback. It featured several variations of the three-cylinder
1.0-litre engine, including a turbocharged version with 68 PS JIS and
diesel and turbo-diesel versions. The turbo diesel first appeared in the fall
of 1984. The base Charades received the naturally aspirated, three cylinder, 993
cc CB23 engine with 50–55 PS. 0–60 mph takes around 12–13 seconds. Japanese
market models had twin carburettors as standard, while most export versions
received a single unit which made marginally less power.
The Charade Turbo and Charade DeTomaso models had the upgraded CB23 engine,
called the CB60. The CB60 was also a 993 cc engine, but was fitted with a very
small IHI turbocharger, which increased its power to 80 PS in Japanese market
cars, 68 PS in export models. The tiny turbocharger meant that an intercooler
was not necessary. The suspension was lightly upgraded, with thicker anti-roll
bars and slightly stiffer suspension, and the car also received alloy wheels
rather than the standard steel items. The turbo version was available in both
bodystyles. There were also high roofed versions
available in some markets, either with the three- or five-door bodywork. The
Japanese market "van" version also received the higher roof. In Chile this
generation was called the G21, and like the G20 before it, it was equipped with
the smaller CD-series 41 PS 843 cc three-cylinder engine. The G21 was sold
between 1985 and 1990 approximately. The G11 was produced with two frontends,
with square headlights and rectangular "cat's eye" shaped headlights. The
facelift was first presented in the summer of 1985. In Europe, the G11
underbody and various engines and transmissions also formed the basis for
the Innocenti Minitre after Innocenti's contract with British Leyland expired.
The G11 underpinnings continued to be used by the Italian automaker until
1992. Aside from four- and five-speed manuals a two-speed automatic option
called the "Daimatic" was also available.
In Australia the range began with the high roofed two-seater, three-door CC
model, while the rest of the range had five-door bodywork.
In 1985, at the Tokyo show, Daihatsu introduced the 926R, a prototype of a
mid engine Charade, developed together with DeTomaso and designed to take part
in the World Rally Championship for cars under 1,300 cc. With a 1.4 equivalence
factor for forced induction engines, this meant that the downsized engine was
classified as being of 1,296.4 cc. The 926R had a mid-mounted 926 cc twelve
valve, twin-cam, turbocharged three-cylinder engine – moving the rear
wheels through a five-speed manual transmission and delivering 120 PS. The
926R weighed 800 kg and had wider fenders to cover the 205/225 15" wheels.
However, following significant crashes in the 1985 championship, Group B was
banned and the 926R project was called off. There was also a limited
homologation series of 200 Charade 926 Turbos built, with the same 926 cc
engine producing 73 PS. Nonetheless, the second generation
Daihatsu Charade did see some rally usage. The Swiss Daihatsu importer
campaigned a Charade Turbo in their national Group A rally championship in
1985, with Florence L'Huillier as a driver.
South Africa In South Africa, Alfa Romeo's local
subsidiary assembled Daihatsu Charades beginning in March 1983. The only model
available was the naturally aspirated petrol 1.0, with five doors and the high
roof. Power is 60 PS, and either a four- or five-speed manual transmission was
available. These Charades were also exported to Italy to circumvent Italian
laws hindering the import of Japanese cars. South African assembly ended in
1985. Third generation
The third generation of the Daihatsu Charade debuted in 1987. With styling by
Daihatsu chief stylist Hiroshi Aoki and colleague Hideyuki Ueda, it originally
shipped with a carburetted 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine, also available as
a diesel and turbodiesel, or with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder with single
carburetor. Featuring fully independent suspension front and rear, either
three-door or five-door hatchback body styles were originally offered. A
1.0-litre twin-cam fuel injected intercooled turbo, named GTti and
delivering 105 PS JIS was later added, only available as a three-door hatch.
Fuel injected versions of the 1.3-litre four-cylinder and three-cylinder were
later added. A four-door sedan was released with the 1.3-litre EFI engine
in 1988. There were two different sport models available, the GTti and the GTxx.
Both versions are mechanically identical, but the GTxx features many
added luxury items. These include full bodykit, lightweight 14-inch speedline
alloys, air-conditioning, power steering, one-touch electric window
down, and electric sunroof. Some of these options were also available to buy
as optional extras on the GTti. Side-skirts were also fitted to many
GTtis, but in some countries they were only sold as a dealer optional extra.
The GTxx is much rarer than the GTti, mainly being sold in Japan, although
some were exported and sold in other countries in small numbers. All GTxxs
have engine code CB70, whereas GTtis can have CB70 or CB80, depending on the
country and region sold. There are no known differences with the actual engine
internals, all CB70s feature catalyst emissions control systems. Even some
CB80s for Europe featured the catalyst, although UK cars did not. There are more
than likely slight differences between the CB70 and CB80 ECU mapping, with CB70
cars quoted as producing 105 PS compared to the CB80's 101 PS. This is probably
down to the CB70 having the ignition timing mapped more advanced to suit the
higher octane fuel used in Japan. A slight facelift in 1991 gave the cars
smoother style rear lights and reflector panel, a slightly longer tailgate top
spoiler, and a revised interior trim with fabric also on the door trim
panels. There was also a four-wheel drive version of the fuel injected
1.3-litre sold at home and also exported to a few countries, for example in
Scandinavia and Switzerland. The third-generation car was sold in the
United States for just five years, from 1988 through 1992. The car sold poorly,
despite construction "as tight as a frozen head bolt" and attractive styling
for the market segment, perhaps because of its high price, few dealerships,
rough-running three-cylinder, low performance, Toyota, which had recently
procured a controlling interest in Daihatsu, withdrew all Daihatsu-badged
cars from the US market. Sales for 1989 were 15,118. Only the three-door
hatchbacks and four-door sedans were available. The North American Charade
appeared in three different trim levels until 1989; the CES, CLS, and CLX. The
CES came with a 53 bhp, 1.0-litre three-cylinder, fuel injected engine
called the CB90. The other two variants were available with the standard CB90 or
the more powerful 1.3-litre four-cylinder SOHC 16-valve fuel
injected, all-aluminum HC-E engine. In 1990, the trim levels were reduced to
just two, the SE and more luxurious SX. Four-cylinder models were available with
a five-speed manual gearbox or a three-speed automatic transmission,
while three-cylinder models were offered with the manual transmission only.
In the Australian market, the GTti was unavailable and the turbocharged petrol
Charade used the lower powered carbureted engine from the previous
generation. However, quite a few GTtis and GTxxs have been imported from Japan
and so do have a good following. In Australia, the third generation was
assessed in the Used Car Safety Ratings as providing "worse than average"
protection for its occupants in the event of a crash and the second
generation was assessed as "significantly worse than average".
The G100 Charade has been built by FAW Tianjin as the Tianjin Xiali since 1988,
replacing brief CKD production of the previous generation model there. Heavily
facelifted versions with more modern Toyota engines are still available, as
well as copied versions like the Huali and various Geely products such as the
Haoqing and its derivatives. = Competition=
In the UK, the GTti had a fairly successful rally career competing in the
RAC Lombard Rally in 1989 and 1990 and was highly competitive in the Safari
Rally. The GTti won class honours many times and was able to mix it with some
of the 2.0-litre cars and on occasion troubling some of the considerably more
powerful 4WD cars. With the "turbo factor" increased to 1.7, the one-litre
Charade was forced into the same category as the 2.0-litre cars. The best
result was in the 1993 Safari Rally, where Charade GTxx models finished
fifth, sixth, and seventh overall. Fourth generation
The fourth generation was introduced in January 1993, again with hatchback and
sedan bodies. Being somewhat larger than the predecessor, the 1.0-litre engines
were no longer offered in most markets, although the 1.0 remained available in
Australia in the G202 Charade and also in Brazil due to a lower tax incidence
for vehicles equipped with engines displacing less than 1.0-litre. The SOHC
1.3-litre became the base motor instead for most markets. The sedan, introduced
in 1994, featured a 1.5-litre engine with optional 4WD. The bigger engines
were also available with hatchback bodywork. The diesel received the G213
chassis code, while all other models had codes in the G200 range. The diesel
models were dropped in all markets where they had previously been available. An
unusual version is the Australian market G202, which came equipped with the CB24
1.0-litre engine. The heads and emission hose layout are completely different
from the earlier CB23. In Australia, the fourth generation was assessed in the
Used Car Safety Ratings as providing "worse than average" protection for its
occupants in the event of a crash and the second generation was assessed as
"significantly worse than average". The turbocharged GTti version was
replaced by a more conventional GTi with an SOHC 16-valve 1.6-litre engine. In
the Japanese domestic market this version was named in honour of Italian
ex-racing driver Alessandro deTomaso, including a racing-derived camshaft, and
was capable of 124 PS JIS in the Japanese market. The export version,
simply called "GTi", was detuned to 105 PS DIN. De Tomaso also added their own
bodykit, Recaro seats, a Nardi Torino steering wheel, and Pirelli sports
tires. A total of 120,000 Charade GTis were produced following this joint
effort. The Charade was restyled in 1996, only
two years after release. It now had a "smiley face" grille and changed
headlights, looking more like its Toyota sibling, the Starlet. It was produced
until 2000, when it was replaced by the Sirion and Storia.
Nameplate use with other vehicles In Australia, the name had previously
been used for the L500 series of the Daihatsu Mira, which was sold there as
the Daihatsu Charade Centro between March 1995 and 1998.
In 2003, the Charade name was resurrected in Europe, Australia, and
South Africa, on a rebadged version of the Daihatsu Mira. It was positioned one
market segment below its previous generations and was available as a
three- or five-door hatchback with a 1.0-litre inline-four engine. It has
since been discontinued in Australia in 2006, due to Toyota retiring the
Daihatsu nameplate there. The L250 series of the Daihatsu Mira was produced
for other markets until 2007. From 2007, Daihatsu in South Africa
offered the Daihatsu Mira as the Charade in that market. Production ended in c.
2011. Between 2011 and 2013, Daihatsu Europe
brought the Thai- built Toyota Yaris on the market as the Daihatsu Charade. This
was the last Charade model introduced under the Daihatsu nameplate in Europe.
References External links
Media related to Daihatsu Charade at Wikimedia Commons