Honey, I shrank the roadster

Daihatsu's Copen may look just a bit twee, but it really is a fine little car at a terrific price, says Sean O'Grady

I was at the traffic lights (roof down) when two cool dudes in a new-ish BMW 3-Series coupe pulled up next to me.

I was at the traffic lights (roof down) when two cool dudes in a new-ish BMW 3-Series coupe pulled up next to me.

"What's that, mate? Audi? Lexus?" they asked.

"Daihatsu," I replied, carefully pronouncing the word Dai-Hat-Zoo, as not to provoke the (for me) slightly humiliating response of "a what?".

"Nice car," they remarked, thumbs up, nodding away.

"That was close," I thought, having previously been treated to plenty of "and where's Noddy?"-type teasing. Maybe the Copen isn't as effeminate or silly as I thought.

Well, who cares what people think anyway? The Copen is a nice car, and does indeed look like an Audi TT or Lexus Coupé that has been left a little too long in the spin dryer. Daihatsu are pushing lots of special-edition Copens at the moment, including an all-white one and a "Vivid" all-red variant, but the test car I drove in silver looked much more the part. Not butch, but not laughable, either.

The Copen's dinky proportions and tiny engine are the products of Japan's strange tax regulations for cars, presumably designed to encourage motorists to think small. All Japanese K-Cars, as they are known, are limited to a 660cc engine capacity with a 64 PS power limit and must be no more than 1,475mm wide and no longer than 3,400mm. Hence the Copen's crazed 16-valve 659cc turbo-charged engine and scaled-down-big-car looks.

But what a lot Daihatsu have packed into it. Most strikingly, they have endowed their mini roadster with an electrically folding metal roof that stows away in the boot when not in use, just like a Mercedes-Benz SLK, but for £13,000. ("Copen" is a combination of "coupe" and "open", you see.)

Aluminium, too, to help defray the weight of all the electric motors. It is becoming de rigueur even at this end of the market, with the Peugeot 205 CC and Renault Megane CC both employing that device. If you're not bothered about out-and-out performance it does offer the best of both worlds; open-topped fun and a secure metal roof impervious to vandals and thieves. The MG TF and Fiat Barchetta, both otherwise nicely balanced sports cars, are losing out because of their old canvas-top designs.

Roof up or down, that high-revving, tiny power plant is also quite fun to use. As you might expect, there isn't much torque further down the rev range, so you do have to work the engine and gearbox reasonably hard to get the most out of it.

The performance isn't there for this to be regarded as a true sports car. Like the Smart Roadster, you are in for sub-national speed limit thrills here, with 0 to 62mph coming up in 11.7 seconds and a top speed of 106mph. I would imagine things would get a little shaky if you tried to take a Copen to the limit. Similarly, the steering wheel is too bulky and the clutch pedal set too high for racy driving.

Take it a little more easy, though, and the Copen is quite a relaxed, civilised companion. You shouldn't feel embarrassed to be seen in it.