Daihatsu Midget II

The Daihatsu Midget is a lightweight single seater. But it's not a racing car. Oh no. Instead, it´s the fastest delivery van in the far East. First shown at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Daihatsu Midget II finally went on sale in Japan in 1996. This utterly bizarre commercial vehicle's nippiness through city is more thanks to it's minuscule stature than outright power. Poke is provided by a weerie in-line three-cylinder 12-valve engine developed from that in the Mira and other more mainstream Daihatsu models. But unlike these, the Midget engine is tweaked - to produce even less power! In total there's just 31BHP maximum to play with, liberated at 4900rpm. Matched to this unit is a four-speed manual transmission, or should you prefer to go even slower, a three-speed automatic gearbox. Still, the bodywork is so flimsy that at least the cute little Midget has little to weigh it down. The D-Type model added in 1998 is lighter still, being 75mm even-shorter overall. Only an optional second seat (plus passenger) need seriously hamper progress. Not that this is a, um, vehicle that you'd want to go quickly around corners in. Compact MacPherson struts are fitted at the front and the rear end rides on a primitive rigid axle and leaf spring combination. Next-to-no grip is provided by a set of tiny castors at each corner, borrowed straight from a shopping trolley. The front pair are set much furter apart than the closely-spaced rears, the aim being to give maximum manoeuvrability whilst still prevening the whole caboodle from lipping over at the first sign of bend. Braking, meanwhile, is a close match for shopping trolley to. A set of tiny drum brakes are given the task of bringing the Midget to a stop. It's tragic, then, that only japanese pizza delivery boys will ever get to know just what a laugh the little Midget really is.