The Daihatsu Motor Business, finest-acknowledged for its preferred kei cars and trucks and vans in Japan, produced a shorter-lived attempt to promote highway autos in the United States. From the 1988 through 1992 design a long time, the Charade subcompact and Rocky mini-SUV could be acquired right here, after which the brand name packed up and went property. As you may well consider, the Charade is pretty uncommon and the Rocky approximately nonexistent currently, but my junkyard looking never ever ceases and I discover examples right here and there. Here’s a 1990 Rocky, found in a self-services property in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado.
The Rocky identify was made use of largely in Japan and North America, even though the rest of the planet understood this truck as the Feroza or Sportrak.
Its slender track and mild fat made the Rocky very good for off-street use and the price tag tag was sensible, but (as was also the circumstance with the Suzuki Samurai) it didn’t fare so nicely as an American highway commuter. The principal cause Rocky income never ever seriously took off below, however, was the never-read-of-it maker coupled with a unpleasant economic downturn.
Toyota, which owned sufficient of Daihatsu to have veto energy over enterprise conclusions in 1990, finally took complete management of the organization in 2016. Right now, Toyota rakes in the yen offering Daihatsu Hijet vehicles about the planet.
The 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine in the Rocky built 94 horsepower.
Both the Rocky and the Charade could be bought with a four-velocity computerized transmission, but most customers opted for the less costly and much more gasoline-productive 5-on-the-flooring manual. In simple fact, I’ve identified but a one slushbox Daihatsu in all my several years of junkyard crawling.
This small truck trundled around just past 200,000 miles of asphalt and (presumably) mud, dirt, and snow in the course of its 31 many years. For a Daihatsu, that’s quite outstanding.
But the resale worth on a perfectly-worn tiny truck with a few pedals and badges from a thriller company is just not so good, so listed here it sits.
As rare as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster!
In Japan, shrill cuteness offered Rockies.
In Oz, the Feroza’s off-highway skills saved it from staying late to surfing appointments.
As hard as Uncle Toby’s Iron Guys. The Feroza name was utilised in Europe as well.
Intensely rad Dutch vehicle purchasers could get the Feroza’s canvas prime in many 1980s early 1990s pastel colors, to match their leg warmers.
