I’ve always had a special place of respect for Daihatsu. They always seem to make the best concept cars, and they’re not afraid to try some really daring designs, even for production cars. Of course, they’ve made some pretty big mistakes lately, to the point where I think they’re on hold from actually building any cars. But, I want to take us a few decades into the past to appreciate a really charming little wagon Daihatsu once made, and to point out a detail of this wagon that’s so full of charm your body may go into convulsions as your charm-glands overfill and your delight bladder could be in danger of rupturing, so maybe read this over a dropcloth.
The car is called the Compagno, and was available in a full range of body styles: two- or four-door sedan, convertible, wagon/van, and even a pickup. These were made between 1963 and 1970, and used either 797cc or 958cc inline-fours. They had styling that I think looked remarkably Italian, like some Fiats of the era, and I’ve always found them to be quietly handsome little machines with a lot of character. I think they were the first Japanese cars officially imported into the UK, too.
We’re just going to focus on the wagon models today. Have a look:
That’s a really appealing little two-door wagon, isn’t it? Well, I guess three-door, sort of, because of the hatch. Oh, but it’s not just a hatch! Look at this:
It had a tailgate, too! And, that tailgate isn’t just the usual tailgate, it also reveals a separate spare tire holding compartment, so if you get a flat you don’t have to unload all your crap to get to the tire, which is a feature I appreciate. I love separate spare tire compartments, and all the advantages of a tailgate for hauling big stuff and, significantly, sitting upon and dangling your feet.
Technically, these were really quite conventional, with a front engine, rear drive, and basic and rugged leaf spring suspension. Also, 41-ish horsepower from 800cc or so wasn’t bad, for the era. I mean, these weren’t quick by any means, but you’d get there.
Anyway, back to the little detail I want to point out. See if you can see it here:
Actually, that’s a bad photo for this, because if you’re like me, all you can think of is what a shitty place that is to set up a tent. They want to sleep on that beach made of what looks like nothing but pointy rocks? The hell are they thinking? Is their bed at home a big canvas sack of gravel? Find another spot to camp, you kooks!
Let’s try another picture. How about this one:
See the bit I’m talking about? Here, let me show you:
Curtains! Motherflapping curtains, available as a factory option!
Look at that; There’s a little curtain rod there and everything. Holy crap is that charming! And so very Japanese, as anyone who has been in a Japanese cab and seen the seat doilies all over the place can tell you, these are people who appreciate the fuck out of some lace.
I know a lot of modern cars, especially luxury cars and minivans, have little window shades made of perforated thin fabric, but those feel like industrial cheese graters compared to the quiet elegance of little curtains like these. These Compagnos are already such appealing little cars, and details like this just push them over the top.
I’ve never seen one of these in person, and I have no idea how much collectability these early Daihatsus have. I hope there’s someone out there preserving these things!
Compagni seems a better plural of compagno, weird an Italian would masculinize the name of a small car, but when in Hokkaido, I guess
How much has our world advanced since then. But this one shows what wealth looked like in our childhood days.
What?
No antimacassars on the seat backs?
my parents had a custom dodge van with actual curtains as well, so it’s not so out of place, but yeah, factory optioned, and not from a custom kit, that’s cool.
It looks Italian because it was designed by Carrozzeria Alfredo Vignale!
Two door wagons need to make a comeback.
Also, the fact that the giant rear window slides open is pretty uncommon for wagons / shooting brakes. The guy looks pretty comfy with his elbow resting on the sill
Not so uncommon for little Japanese 2 door wagons of the era – I had a Datsun 1000 wagon, and a friend had several Mazda 1300 wagons, and all had sliding side windows like that.
Morris Minor, Mini and BMC 1100 wagons had the same setup. Just one more datapoint to add to the “Britain and Japan are alternate-universe versions of the same country that ended up in the same universe due to bureaucratic error” theory.
Never been so glad to be wrong, and now I’m in a rabbit hole of vintage Japanese and British 2 door wagons.
Its 1978 we lived in Devon, England and the family car (for 5 of us!) was a Morris Minor Traveller with the timber rear structure. That was untill Dad got all decadant and bought a Triumph 2500.
Go back far enough and American wagons had those rear sliding windows, too. I think I remember them from a classmate’s 1948 Ford.
You could do puppet shows in the back!
I think back seats are for poppet shows.
You’d also like The 1951 Kaiser Traveler
https://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/1951-kaiser-car_zps8e51a5f5.jpg
another pic
https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6218/6349457750_473ca24700_b.jpg
Oh, I do: https://www.theautopian.com/the-frazer-vagabond-kaiser-traveler-was-the-most-amazing-car-that-becomes-a-truck-that-you-never-heard-of/
Well, indeed you do! 🙂
Pretty sure no one’s feet are dangling from that tailgate. Looks like it’s 6” from the ground. Still, pretty neat. I miss the tailgates on wagons! My family had a big white late 80’s Caprice wagon and 6-year-old me thought that was pretty rad.
Go back and watch some of Jason’s video. If ever there is a man that is up for the job of feet dangling it is him. (This may sound mean but is really born out of jealousy that he can actually fit in all those cool little cars that he tests out.)
Those tiny girls who call Mothra could easily sit on that tailgate.
The 2-way tailgate that folds down or opens sideways really needs to make a comeback on some of these SUV’s.
I’ve seen cars in old news footage (South African and/or Rhodesian is what I remember, but I think Australian too) with old-school venetian blinds with wide metal slats and tapes in the rear windows, but never curtains on anything that wasn’t a sex machine custom van. With those net curtains, the green upholstery and that woodgrain paint or applique or actual wood on the dashboard, it’s slathered in the kind of lower-middle class aesthetics just right for the big slice of of suburban Britain that most certainly was not swinging through the 1960s, thank you very much. All it needs is an aggressive floral wallpaper depicting triffids in bloom or something and a rented television.
Rear window louvres were a common thing in Australia back in the 60s/70s – probably because of the heat/sun. The traditional sort like I have in my 1962 Valiant were metal slats mounted to 2 vertical rails that hooked into the rear window rubber at top and bottom to hold it in place. Later it became more common for it to be a black plastic moulding that sat on the outside of the window, clipped to adhesive pads stuck on the glass, to allow it to be temporarily removed for claening.
They call them hired televisions lol
I’m hung up on the two-piece tailgate that isn’t flush with the load floor. Sure, I guess it would help that you can remove the spare tire without unloading your cargo. But it also means that you can’t use the tailgate as an extension of the load floor for long loads – which seems like it would be ever so much more useful than an easy-access spare.
Yeah if they did some fancy hinges that would give you flat and then drop down it would be perfect
I’m sorry, but those curtains are a little hearsey, don’t you think?
Which reminds me, I saw a hearse at a…rest stop…on the NJ Turnpike yesterday. I didn’t see the passenger in the food court, though. And I realized for the first time that hearses in NJ get the same kind of plates that taxis do.
There’s a local tech support/call center that I drive past nearly every day. Someone who works there drives a hearse. It’s a little weird seeing it parked there.
I mean, they are taking people from one place to another, albeit in a slightly different capacity
Was it a final rest stop?
Well, it was New Jersey.
Yes it was the Vince Lombardi rest stop
Well, he is buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, NJ, but I’m wondering if you meant Jimmy Hoffa?
No I meant the final rest stop on the NJTP in Ridgefield NJ…. or first if you are heading south, but that ruins the joke lol
Apologies.
No apologies needed, it was a stretch of a joke
The camping shot makes it look like there’s some kind of horizontal split in the rear quarter and hatch glass, but it must be something behind the car. You’d think they would airbrush that out. Anyway, sweet little wagon, and in the same week we looked at a Squareback!
I think it is something on the glass because it appears to be silver and over the window glass on the left side of the car and dark when viewed through that glass on the other side. It’s also visible on various configurations on the other photos, so maybe it indicates some sort of optional window sliding or venting arrangements that vary according to trim level.
That rear leaf spring suspension looks like overkill for the weight and volume of that little car. I kind of miss little light rear drive cars.
The other day, I was thinking about how a four cylinder, RWD, and a solid rear axle was the default and universally most common layout for a car from the mid 19-aughts(with the Model T) to the mid 70s, but how they are thoroughly extinct from US roads today. Seriously, what’s the last car(that’s not a pickup) sold in the US with a four cylinder, RWD, and a solid rear? I think it’s the AE86 Corolla, and when’s the last time you saw one of those?
I helped a buddy change the clutch on a rwd corolla from about late 70s or about then.
My wife had a RWD Toyota Starlet when we got married and I didn’t realize what a mistake we made getting rid of it till I saw one racing at a local SCCA event. A customer had one when I worked in the Toyota service department and I remember him standing in front of me cleaning his ear with his key as he complained that he wasn’t getting the 50mpg he was supposed to.
Perfect first car.
I want curtains in cars now. I did have some in the topper (cap) of my old Toyota pickup but that was something I added.
I don’t know if you’ve ruined me or improved me, Torch, but as soon as I zoomed in, my first thought was “Are those curtains?”
Can we also talk about how amazing that green fabric is on the seats?! It looks so comfortable.
To give your ride that homey feel.
Should be covered in plastic to save that upholstery.