These lovely micro Kei cars are all the rage in Japan, Driving

These lovely micro Kei cars are all the rage in Japan

The Honda S660, top, the Suzuki Lapin, bottom left, and the Daihatsu Cast Sport.

Born out of necessity after World War II, Japan’s Kei class of micro vehicles aren’t fairly as puny as they once were

TOKYO — Petite, quirky, adorable, affordable – the list of adjectives to describe Japan’s unique Kei class of vehicles is longer than the space these micro-cars, micro-vans and micro-pickups take up on Tokyo’s dense streets, where they have become insanely popular.

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Last year, Japan’s domestic market-only Kei-class of lil’ transportation devices made up forty per cent of all fresh vehicles sold in this country. Micro-car sales in two thousand fourteen were the best ever, up eight per cent over the year before, to over Two.7 million sold. And albeit they were created more than sixty years ago, today’s Kei micro-cars are arguably at the forefront of Japanese automotive design and technical innovation, despite their diminutive size.

A uniquely Japanese proposition, Kei cars were born out of necessity.

In the process of rebuilding their war-torn nation after World War II, most Japanese could hardly afford a motorcycle, let alone a car. With the ambition to energize its manufacturing industry while providing farmers and puny business owners access to four-wheeled transportation, the Japanese government created the Kei (for “light automobile”) class of vehicles in 1949.

Out-of-this-world concept cars at two thousand fifteen Tokyo Motor Demonstrate

Based on their original Lilliputian figure size and powertrain thresholds, the original Kei cars were more like four-wheeled motorbikes. Engine displacement could be no larger than one hundred cubic centimetres if two-stroke, and 150cc if four-stroke. Kei car figures could be no longer than Two.8 metres, no broader than 1.0 metre, carry a maximum of four passengers and a stream of no more than three hundred fifty kilograms.

On top of being cheap to buy and operate, the original Kei cars were made even more appealing by being taxed and insured at a lower rate. And unlike owners of larger vehicles in Japan, Kei car buyers did not have to prove they had a parking spot.

While these specifications permitted Japan’s rebuilding manufacturing industries to get an assortment of Kei cars into the palms of as many post-war buyers as quickly and cheaply as possible, over time the Japanese government step by step enlargened the Kei-class size and engine limitations to appeal to even more customers and entice extra automakers to get on board.

In 1955, the maximum engine displacement leaped to three hundred sixty cubic centimetres, which witnessed Kei cars like the front-wheel-drive Suzuki SF (Suzuki Four-wheel car) and rear-wheel-drive Subaru three hundred sixty (the Japanese automaker’s very first automobile) become more practical as day-to-day transportation.

By the time the growing Japanese auto industry was becoming a superior force worldwide, in one thousand nine hundred ninety another big switch in Kei car regulations came.

Daihatsu Cast Sport

The limit on engine displacement grew to the current six hundred sixty cubic centimetres and sixty three horsepower, and bod sizes were permitted to grow one hundred millimetres in length. These switches led to the majority of Japanese automakers hopping onto the Kei car bandwagon, resulting in such 1990s Kei sports car classics like the Honda Strike, Mazda Autozam AZ-1 and Suzuki Cappuccino, which fans of the Gran Turismo movie game franchise will no doubt recognize.

Adorable Autozam AZ-1 produces joy in little doses

Albeit larger than ever, even today’s Kei cars – with their maximum Trio.4-metre length and 1.48-metre width – make a modern subcompact like a Honda Fit or Nissan Micra show up like a Cadillac Escalade in comparison.

Today, only four Japanese automakers are left building Kei cars – Daihatsu, Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki – with remaining rival automakers Toyota, Nissan and Subaru badge-engineering their Kei models from the above-mentioned four manufacturers.

Daihatsu Copen Cero

Based on two thousand fourteen sales figures, the top three Kei models were the Suzuki Wagon R (the best-selling Kei car since 2003), the Honda N-BOX and the Daihatsu Tanta (that, for the very first time since 2008, was not only the most popular fresh Kei car sold in Japan, but also the most popular fresh vehicle, period).

And albeit their engine and dimensions are limited, Kei cars’ design and technical innovations are not.

Many fresh models – like the Daihatsu Cast Sport that debuted at this year’s Tokyo Motor Display – suggest “big car” engineering, luxury and convenience, as well as either front-, rear- or all-wheel drive. Kei micro-vans, like the Suzuki Spacia, are space-efficient wonders, suggesting a remarkable amount of passenger room within their lil’ footprints. And the spirit of the 1990s Kei sports cars lives on in modern takes like the Honda S660 and Daihatsu Copen roadsters.

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