Daihatsu Charade


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 kei car compacts in its line-up, such as the Daihatsu Mira. In Japan, it offers buyers more interior space and a larger engine that allows for the car to also be used outside of urban areas. It replaced the Daihatsu Consorte, although the Charmant took over from the bigger-engined Consortes.
In China, the Daihatsu Charade was called Xiali and was 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. It also provided the basis for countless unlicensed Chinese copies, often depending on fibreglass moldings taken from the second generation Charade. Production ended in 2012.

First generation (G10, G20; 1977–1983)

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. Japanese market cars claimed 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 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 in May 1979. 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-liter CB20 engine, and also received a five-speed manual transmission and a tachometer.
At 1981 Tokyo Motor Show, Daihatsu displayed a concept of 1.0 L turbo car and collaborated with Italian exotic sport car maker, De Tomaso Automobili. This car was based from 3-door Charade XTE and called Daihatsu Charade De Tomaso. This idea was later applied for mass production in the second generation.

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 "Daihatsu 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.

Competition

Uruguayan driver Guillermo Viera driving his Daihatsu Charade G10 with his brother Agustín Viera as copilot, had competed several times in the 19 Capitals Historic Rally of Uruguay. In 2011 they finished 41st in the overall rank, in 2012 they finished 18th, in 2014 they finished 9th, and in 2016 they finished second overall with a tight final difference with the winners of only two hundredths of a second after nearly 50 hours of competition.
They were ranked seventh overall and first in its class at the 500 miles rally of Entre Ríos in 2011.
They also had an outstanding performance in the Uruguayan Championship of Historical Tourism 2013, where they won first place in category A.

Second generation (G11; 1983–1988)

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 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. 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 in Japanese market cars, in European 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. This was the first turbo sedan to go on sale in Indonesia, in July 1986, where it was only available as a five-door model. Singaporean-market Charades received the same engines as used in Japan.
There were also high roofed versions available in some markets, either with the three- or five-door bodywork. This was called the "Dolphin Roof" in Japan. The three-door model was also available in a Van model for commercial use, offered with the naturally aspirated diesel or petrol engines and fitted with the higher roof. Depending on market requirements, the Charade Van was also available with blanked rear windows. To escape quotas and some of the ADR strictures, the high-roof van version was sold in Australia as the Daihatsu Charade Duet in parallel with the passenger models. In Chile this generation was called the G21, and like the G20 before it, it was equipped with the smaller CD-series 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. Taiwanese assembly began in 1983 or 1984. In 1987 they also presented a locally developed longer notchback version of the five-door, similar to the Subaru Tutto and Nissan March Cubic, sold as the Daihatsu Skywing. Developing a model locally also gained the assembler a three percent tax subsidy. In New Zealand, the naturally aspirated petrol model was assembled locally. The Turbo was also sold there, imported fully built-up.
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 1296.4 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. 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.
For China, the G11 Charade was known as the Tianjin TJ730 as a CKD from 1986 to 1988. It was then replaced by the popular G100 Charade.
Nonetheless, the second generation Daihatsu Charade did see some rally usage. Charades were entered in the 1984 through 1988 Safari Rallys. They were runners-up in their class in 1984 and won both A5 and B9 categories in 1985. The Charades were the only cars entered in those classes, but a 13th overall finish was still impressive for the little car. 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, 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 (G100; 1988–1993)

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. The four-cylinder was built with lightness in mind, featuring a hollow crankshaft and camshaft, and the weight of a four-cylinder car was no higher than a similarly equipped three-cylinder model. Featuring fully independent suspension front and rear, either three-door or five-door hatchback body styles were originally offered. A four-door sedan later expanded the range, sold as the Charade Social in Japan. There was also a version with permanent four-wheel drive and the fuel injected 1.3 liter engine, called the TXF/CXF. In New Zealand, this generation was available with a 846 cc ED10 three-cylinder engine.
A 1.0-litre twin-cam fuel injected intercooled turbo, named GTti and delivering 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 Charade GTti was the first production car to produce per liter and the fastest 1.0-liter car produced.
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 compared to the CB80's. 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, 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".
Taiwanese assembly of the G100 began in 1989, although the Skywing liftback version of the G11 continued to be sold into 1990. It continued until local assembler Yu Tian went bankrupt in 1996 in the midst of a financial scandal.

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. In 1990 Safari Rally, two Charade 1.3i models finished first and second on its class, also ninth and tenth overall out of 59 contestants. 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 (G200; 1993–2000)

The fourth generation was introduced in January 1993, again with hatchback and sedan bodies. The design was more conservative than that of the third generation model. Being somewhat larger than the predecessor, in spite of a marginally longer wheelbase, it was still very compact. Although the 1.0-litre engines were no longer offered in most markets, the 1.0L did remain available in Australia and also in Brazil in the G202 Charade. The G202 came equipped with the CB24 1.0-litre engine; the heads and emission hose layout are completely different from those of the earlier CB23. 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 four-wheel drive models received the G213 chassis code, while front-wheel-drive models had codes in the G200 range. The diesel models were dropped in all markets where they had previously been available. 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 an Argentinian ex-racing driver Alessandro Detomaso, including a racing-derived camshaft, and was capable of JIS in the Japanese market. The export version, simply called "GTi", was detuned to 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 around 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.

Chinese copies and derivatives

The Tianjin Xiali TJ730, based on the G11 Charade was built by FAW Tianjin from knock-down kits from 1986 to 1988. It was then replaced by the Xiali TJ7100 and TJ7100U, which were both based on the G100 and G102, respectively. The hatchback commenced production in 1988, while the sedan arrived in October 1990 for the 1991 model year. Both variants were produced up to 1997 and 1999 respectively where facelifted versions with more modern Toyota engines were put into production. The Xiali N3 commenced production in 2004, was given a minor facelift for 2008, and was facelifted again in 2012, with production ending soon after. It, however, is still displayed on the Tianjin FAW website as of 2018.
Another set of cars which was closely designed to the original were known under the TJ7101A/TJ7101UA/TJ7101L/TJ7101U/TJ7101AU/TJ7101AUL/TJ7101A-QH/TJ7101AU-QH/TJ7111/TJ7111AU/TJ7131/TJ7131U/TJ7131UL/TJ7131AU/TJ7131AUL/TJ7141A/TJ7141AU/TJ7141A-QH/TJ7141AU-QH codenames. Production for most versions ended in 2006. The TJ7101AU and TJ7141AU continued production and were also known as the Junya and Shenya and came equipped with the 1 litre Daihatsu-based TJ376QE three cylinder or a 1.4 litre engine known as the 4GB1 with four cylinders. The Shenya and Junya were both given a facelift for 2006 and continued until production ended in 2011.
All Xiali based Charades had a 5 speed manual gearbox as standard. The Xiali brand was defunct in 2015.
The Xiali was also used a taxicab in Beijing throughout the 1980s and 1990s coloured in a red livery with Chinese characters in white. The Xiali taxi was retired from the taxi market in February 2006 in an effort to cut down pollution where the Hyundai Elantra replaced it. It was also available in its home city, Tianjin.
Chinese brand Ling Kong made a series of cars based on the Tianjin Xiali in exterior design and was known as the KJ6380. Available as a sedan, notchback and hatchback, the KJ6380 was available with three one litre four-cylinder engines known as the JL462, DA462 and 377Q-L. All variants were equipped with a 4-speed manual gearbox as standard. For the sedan, it has a 3800 millimetre length, 1510 millimetre width, 1480 millimetre height and sits on a 2460 millimetre wheelbase. Production started in 1988 and ended in 1995 after the company merged with Sanjiu Auto. Another manufacturer based in Anhui called Anda'er made an MPV variant of the Xiali in 1996 known as the Anda'er AAQ 6370 along with other cars. The 1-litre TJ376QE engine came standard paired with a 4 speed manual gearbox. The MPV is 3750 millimetres long, 1580 millimetres wide, 1770 millimetres high and runs on a 2300 millimetre wheelbase. Kerb weight is 950 kilograms. The MPV was given a facelift in 2001 featuring a new set of lights and dashboard then ended production in 2003.
Geely also made a series cars based on the Xiali which were licensed by FAW Tianjin known as the Liangjing JL6360E1 for the hatchback, sold from 1998 to 2004, the Haoqing SRV station wagon, sold from 1998 to 2006 for the 2007 model year, the Merrie /MR303 notchback, sold from 2003 to 2006 and the Uliou sedan sold from 2003 to 2005. A pickup variant was introduced in 2001 and was known as JL1010N sold up to 2005. A panel van variant known as the JL5010X was sold from 2001 to 2004 which was replaced by the JL1010E1 and was sold from 2005 to 2007.