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When Dufay Motors announced in 1964 that it was to sell imported Daihatsus, it quietly heralded a British automotive revolution.
At that time, the Japanese motor industry was producing 1,702,469 cars a year, but tweed-jacketed types regarded the Compagno as an interesting novelty.
Eleven years later, however, such was the success of automobiles from the Land of the Rising Sun that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders negotiated a ‘voluntary restraint’ of imports from Japan.
So where better to start sampling a group of pioneer British-market Japanese cars than CGH 8B, the first official import and the very Daihatsu that was reviewed by Autocar in 1965.
The tester thought the Compagno ‘well made but technically unadvanced’ – although the likes of the Vauxhall Viva HA were not exactly cutting edge.
He also complained that it wouldn’t reach 60mph on a one-mile straight against a strong headwind, but the Daihatsu’s main appeal was as a chic town car rather than M1 transport.
The first-ever Japanese car in the UK now resides at the headquarters of official importer International Motors in Solihull.
Its custodian, Steve Eardley, finds it very easy to drive and especially praises the four-speed column change: “It’s very smooth, and will still put modern manual transmissions available here to shame!”
The Compagno took a bow in 1963, with the Fiat-like Vignale-styled body combined with a separate chassis.
The 800 range was built until 1970, but the average British motorist is most likely to have encountered one being consumed by Godzilla at their local cinema.
Aside from the challenges of selling a Japanese car 20 years after the end of WW2, a £799 price-tag meant the Daihatsu was considerably more expensive than a Ford Anglia 123E.
However, any dealer would be able to highlight its good looks and standard equipment that included fog and reversing lamps, whitewall tyres and even a radio.
Eardley has no doubts that the Compagno could have been a success in the UK had it been properly marketed.
“Dufay only had eight vehicles to begin with, and couldn’t pay the manufacturer for them until they were sold. Daihatsu in Osaka thought its distributor would honour the debt, but having sold the cars Dufay went into liquidation without paying for them.”
Today, CGH 8B is simultaneously a reminder of a lost opportunity and a harbinger of the future.
The next Japanese manufacturer to tempt the British motorist was Toyota, with a four-car line-up appearing at the 1965 London Motor Show, and the firm hoping that sales would reach 150-200 units per month by ’66.
Toyota unveiled the third-generation T40 Corona in 1964 and, while the outgoing T20 and T30 featured quasi-Detroit lines, the new model was styled by Pininfarina.
From a modern perspective the Toyota appears ornate rather than fussy, although the official term was ‘Arrow line’.
The entry-level model was tested by Autocar in 1966 and found to be ‘a well-made family four-seater with lively performance’.
The T40 was also built in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, much to the consternation of BMC’s overseas sales division.
‘Our’ Corona is a De Luxe version, with an enticing specification including a clock, heated rear ’screen and a radio.
Such luxuries enticed curious motorists to call Motor Imports to arrange a test drive, although there would be social consequences of opting for a Corona over a Hillman Minx.
The sight of a Toyota on the drive would prompt a formation bout of curtain-twitching and mutterings of “unpatriotic” from the neighbours. But by the time the T80 replaced the T40 in 1970, many Britons had already decided to ‘buy foreign’.
XTB 341D joined the Toyota GB heritage fleet in 2006, and press officer Richard Seymour loves the fact the 1.5-litre saloon easily keeps up with modern traffic.
The brakes present a minor challenge because, while they are strong enough, they are “rather on or off ”.
That aside, however, this 54-year-old car remains a classic that could easily be used as a daily driver.
Around the same time that Toyotas were starting to appear in outer suburbia, Triumph, MG and Austin-Healey dealers were already becoming concerned about a Honda described by Autocar as ‘a little projectile’.
In the 1960s, more than a few ’bikers of the Gene Vincent School of Fashion would loudly opine to their fellow Ace Café habitués that Japanese motorcycles were sub-par (or words to that effect).
But as early as 1962, sales figures of the newly formed Honda UK had reached five figures, and in the following year the company introduced the S500 sports car.
Soichiro Honda was determined to make the best cars in Japan: “To do that, I must make the best cars in the world.”
The S500 was progressively upgraded into the S600 in 1964, which was also available in coupé guise, and as the S800 in ’65.
An open car appeared at Earls Court in ’66, and British sales commenced the following year.
By that time the Honda featured a live rear axle (on the grounds of cost) and front disc brakes
Motor Sport was impressed, suggesting that: ‘The exciting light-alloy, roller-bearing, twin-cam engine is much more attractive than an iron pushrod power unit.’
The S800 evolved into the S800M – aka the MkII – in 1968, gaining dual-circuit brakes, before production ended in 1970.
Philip Joisce has owned his 1969 Coupé for four years. “One of the most common reactions is, ‘Wow! I’ve never seen one in the metal,’” he says.
“Another is, ‘Does the engine really rev up to 10,000?’” And a tachometer marked up to 11,000rpm was an object of fascination for automotive writers of the 1960s.
Motor thought that above 6000rpm the noise changed from ‘slightly fussy to nearly hysterical’, and the Honda does sound almost permanently frantic.
The cabin is compact and bijou, with the emphasis on the former, but Joisce regards the Honda’s size as one of its many positives: “You can take a racing line without leaving your side of the road!”
Half a century ago, countless drivers held similar opinions, and the ‘world’s fastest production 1-litre car’ established the marque’s reputation with four-wheel transport.
The fourth member in our group will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the Motor Road Test Annual 1969.
The British motoring press extensively evaluated this Sunny 1000 B10 including Car in December 1968, which tested the Datsun opposite the Mitsubishi Colt 1100F beneath the memorably awful headline ‘Some Orientals Analysed’.
There was further evidence that the late ’60s truly was another world in the main image, showing the cars being admired by Japanese tourists to the Tower of London.
The B10 was given its debut in April 1966 as Nissan’s rival to the Toyota Corolla E10; the ‘Sunny’ name was selected in a competition that attracted an amazing eight million entries.
OKJ 213F is one of a six-car line-up to be imported in June 1968, when the marque was such an unknown that the logbook cites ‘Nissen-Datsun Concessionaires’ (sic) as the Sunny’s first owner.
It is believed to now be the sole British-market B10 saloon on the road, and after leaving the press fleet it was acquired by Rob Tann of AF Tann.
The Datsun remained with the dealership until 2000, when it was bought by the Nissan expert Eddie Rattley, and current owner Mark Ashbridge came by the B10 five years later.
“It has light controls,” he says, “and the gearbox is precise, as you would expect from a Datsun. The performance is quite perky thanks to the light weight and, while there is maybe a tendency to mild understeer, the handling is generally good.”
The 1000 is now fitted with radial-ply tyres, a modification recommended by Car to give the Sunny handling in the ‘Escort/Viva class’.
The PR bumf proclaimed the B10 to be: ‘A sturdy, comfortable and high performance “big car”.’
In the metal, the Datsun is a vehicle of remarkable charm. As with the Compagno, the Sunny almost revelled in its conventional engineering but, unlike the Daihatsu, it benefited from a cohesive marketing strategy.
British sales of ‘the £770 car that costs no more’ were around 900, but they provided a foundation for Datsun in this country.
Just three years after the B110-series 1200 superseded the B10, the marque was second only to Renault as a UK importer.
Late to the party, Mitsubishi’s original press model dates from 1974.
The 1100F evaluated in the 1960s was only testing the water, but the A70-series Lancer was marketed under the Colt Car Company banner as ‘A Tough New Breed of Car’.
It first appeared in early 1973, and considerable publicity was derived from the Lancer of Joginder Singh and David Doig winning the Safari Rally in 1974 and ’76.
As for the humbler entry-level version, with its 1.2-litre overhead-valve engine, it impressed no less a writer than Car’s George Bishop.
He regarded the Lancer as demonstrating how: ‘The old way of doing things still works very well for the undemanding everyday driver.’
It was a formula that was guaranteed to appeal to a considerable sector of the motoring public, including those who had become jaded with the innovative (and spectacularly unreliable).
The A70 was replaced by the EX in 1979.
“The Colt has a nicely weighted clutch, reassuringly effective brakes and tidy handling,” says Japanese car aficionado Darren Rungasamy, its pilot for the day.
“There is a remarkable amount to like about the Lancer.”
The coachwork conveys faint notes of Americana, especially around the C-pillars, and the brochure promised: ‘Rugged durability and road-taming performance.’
Most buyers would have been more impressed by the sweet gearchange and the array of fittings that included tilt-adjustable steering. Plus the fact that it would cut a mild dash in the Fine Fare car park.
But for sheer cuteness, the Colt can’t hold a candle to the youngest member of our group.
The tiny Suzuki SC100’s dimensions make the Datsun 1000 look Granada-sized – it seems to hover around your ankles.
As its 970cc ‘four’ reverberates across the Buckinghamshire countryside, its surprising turn of speed causes many a startled glance from Mondeo owners, the engine note drawing to mind the frenetic whirr of an out-of-control spin dryer.
Suzuki launched the Giugiaro-styled Fronte Coupé in late 1971, and the Cervo of 1977 continued with the same formula on a slightly larger scale.
British sales commenced in 1979, badged SC100, where the Suzuki was offered only in top-of-the-range GX guise – and marketed as the ‘Whizzzzzzzkid’.
To quote Motor: ‘No car we have ever tested has even approached this performance/economy compromise, especially at such a low price.’
The adverts claimed that the Whizzkid was fun, stylish and different, and for once this was not hyperbole.
It especially appealed to those who mourned the impending demise of the Midget, and to would-be 911 owners.
The Suzuki’s top speed might have been more modest than a Porsche, but the layout was similar and it was easier to justify to the bank manager.
Suzuki GB has owned this ex-C&SC Whizzkid since 2003, and head of press and PR Alun Parry enjoys driving it whenever possible.
“The engine loves to rev and the gearing is surprisingly tall. Other road users are often startled by how small it is, and how well it keeps up. I always drive it with the lights on, though, because it barely fills half a lane.”
When the SC100 was discontinued in 1982, some 4693 examples had found homes in the UK.
By that time, encountering a Japanese vehicle was as much a part of the daily routine as avoiding Crossroads on ITV.
The curiosity aroused by Daihatsu in 1964 slowly developed into a social revolution, as consumers began to judge vehicles on their own merits, rather than nationality.
For proof, simply compare a photo of virtually any British street taken in the early 1960s with one shot in the early 1980s.
Images: Luc Lacey
Thanks to International Motors; Suzuki GB; Honda S800 Sports Car Club; Toyota GB; Westcott Venture Park; Mitsubishi Motors
Factfiles
Daihatsu Compagno 800
- Sold/no built 1965-’70/8 (UK sales only)
- Engine 797cc ohv ‘four’, Solex carburettor; 40bhp @ 5000rpm; 47lb ft @ 3600rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, torsion bars rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Steering recirculating ball
- Brakes drums
- Weight 1631lb (740kg)
- 0-60mph 23.9 secs
- Top speed 68mph
- Mpg 65
- Price new £799 17s 4d
- Price now from £8000*
Toyota Corona (T40)
- Sold/no built 1965-’68/91 (UK sales only)
- Engine 1490cc ohv ‘four’, Aisan carburettor; 74bhp @ 5000rpm; 85lb ft @ 2600rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension: front independent, by double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Steering worm and sector
- Brakes drums
- Weight 2156lb (978kg)
- 0-60mph 17.2 secs
- Top speed 87mph
- Mpg 26.8
- Price new £777 6s 3d
- Price now from £6000*
Honda S800
- Sold/no built 1966-’70/11,536
- Engine 791cc dohc ‘four’, quad carburettors; 70bhp @ 8000rpm; 49lb ft @ 6000rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension: front independent, by wishbones torsion bars, anti-roll bar rear live axle, trailing arms, coil springs, Panhard rod
- Steering rack and pinion
- Brakes discs front, drums rear
- Weight 1556lb (706kg)
- 0-60mph 13.6 secs
- Top speed 97mph
- Mpg 28
- Price new £778 12s 9d
- Price now from £15,000*
Datsun 1000 Sunny (B10)
- Sold/number built 1966-’69/409,696
- Engine 988cc ohv ‘four’, single carburettor; 61bhp @ 6000rpm; 62lb ft @ 4000rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension: front independent, by wishbones, transverse leaf spring rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Steering recirculating ball
- Brakes drums
- Weight 1567lb (712kg)
- 0-60mph 19.2 secs
- Top speed 79mph
- Mpg 34.2
- Price new £766 10d
- Price now from £5000*
Colt Lancer 1200 (A70)
- Sold/no built 1973-’79/n/a
- Engine 1187cc ohv ‘four’, Mikuni-Solex carb; 69bhp @ 6300rpm; 70lb ft @ 4000rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension: front independent, by MacPherson struts rear live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Steering recirculating ball
- Brakes discs front, drums rear
- Weight 1698lb (770kg)
- 0-60mph 12.3 secs
- Top speed 93mph
- Mpg 30
- Price new £1399
- Price now from £5000*
Suzuki SC100 GX
- Sold/no built 1978-’82/4693 (UK sales only)
- Engine 970cc ohc ‘four’, Mikuni-Solex carb; 47bhp @ 5000rpm; 61lb ft @ 2500rpm
- Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
- Suspension independent, at front by double wishbones with anti-roll bar acting as the lower link, coil springs rear semi-trailing arms, coil springs
- Steering rack and pinion
- Brakes discs front, drums rear
- Weight 1389lb (630kg)
- 0-60mph 17.3 secs
- Top speed 82mph
- Mpg 42.4
- Price new £2400
- Price now from £5000*
*Prices correct at date of original publication
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