The Daihatsu Charade GTti is a boyracer dream of the 1990s. Also a personal aspiration.
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Well, you see the name of the website “CharadeSG” and you could guess what it was named after.
Way before I was eligible for driving lessons, I lurked in very grown-up (and Western) social media groups for enthusiasts, which is how my automotive taste formed. You see, Americans tend to be “stuck” in the past where cultural exports are concerned – its how Initial D had a western resurgence years after the Fifth stage concluded once and for all.
My preferences was inevitably hard-coded in the attainable 1990s gems that Americans could get their hands on, and the Japanese market dreams for them. These groups were united by the Initial D (hell) anime, so most always had some relation to cars featured in the show.
The radwood cars were not often available locally though, so aspirations shifted to the European end, where those guys had a more eclectic range of models available to them – which happened to also match those available locally.
In a perfect world, my roster of owned cars would be primarily hot hatches. I still want to fulfill that teenage dream – the Proton Satria GTi, the Suzuki Swift GTi or Ignis Sport, the Honda Civic SiR EK4 or Type R EK9 – so much aspiration in this writer’s head before the real world caught up to him.
My vision was honed right in on the Satria GTi, just for young me to realize that almost a decade ago, every single one of them in Singapore – the 11 or so were all scrapped.
I eventually found something else. Its really boxy with a lopsided rear wheel well than the front. And strangest of all, the engine is a what? One litre and three cylinders? Even with the strangeness, it became an interest that never faded. It could just be the beauty of the boxy shape and the spooly noises it makes down a road, which is aided by its hot hatch credentials of being compared (loosely) to Honda Civics of its era.
The Daihatsu Charade GTti was the performance variant offered in export markets, where it gained notoriety for being a bang-for-buck banger with a turbocharged heart, becoming very popular predominantly in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and even Pakistan. To summarize, it was a hit in majority of the markets it was sold in, in both left and right-hand drive.
Image credit: sandpapergood
Back in Japan, the GT-XX was also a trim level, basically being a highly-specified or fully-specced variant of the GTti with the same 1-litre turbocharged three-cylinder. With a power output of exactly 100 horsepower quoted, it was a hell of a hot (or warm) hatchback that was cheap to enter, costing around S$5#,### new.
But mention the Charade GTti and its direct competitor must also rise – the Suzuki Swift GTi with its 1.3-litre four-cylinder who was a direct match with the prowess of the Charade. Most people say the Swift was a better car, but with my bias, they’re just wrong.
My own personal recount pales in representing the popularity and love that the Charade GTti and its contemporaries – these were the true boy-racer dreams for many young men, last time and surprisingly, now.
Back when I was very deep into the virtual Roblox Car Community, I had prepared many cars based on the local scene. One of which was a commissioned 3D model of a Charade GTti. That car, having been worked on for about four years, is in a cosmetic state that mirrors what this red GTti was once upon a time.
“8834” was on sale for roughly S$55,000 in 2022, at roughly S$7-8,000 in yearly depreciation. I eyed it for years, watching the price fluctuate as it sat on the dealership floor, where the same company also had a Suzuki Swift GTi that sold before the Charade did. It too would be sold later that year.
Through online chats from a friend and the current owner’s son, the owner bought it as that exact unit was his first car. Should I have been in the market for just a few months earlier, this would be yet another young man’s first, but that world isn’t this.
The GTti was originally black in color. It was restored up, most predominantly with a silver stripe on the side. In the current owner’s hands, the car has been… modified – new Volk Racing TE37s, big-brake kit, blue ambient lighting, resprayed red with new exterior bits and pieces and a tune-up. Frankly as a purist who’d keep their cars mostly original, it hurt to see, but to each their own.
Last year when travelling back home, I crossed paths with this Charade GTti. No doubt that a 1-litre turbo isn’t going to compete with a lightweight 1.6-litre turbo with an extra cylinder and light body, but omit the numbers game and the desirability burns brighter than the figures.
We exchanged thumbs up. I can’t help but wonder how things would be if I took over.
This is one of two Charade GTtis still left in the country. The other one is also a red unit that has been lovingly restored up, now with paint-matched bumpers (it used to be plastic) and the GT-XX Speedline “telephone dial” wheels. I was offered the car but at the time couldn’t let go of my sentiment with the Elan.
Image credit: EfiniRX
Looking on the international side, the UK is left with perhaps less than twenty units that are still road worthy. Malaysia has around five but all likely unwilling to part with. Its unknown for the domestic cars in Japan but the last one that was listed on sale was three years ago in 2023.
I remain hopeful that someday this little obsession will be fulfilled. What is scary is whether there will even be any left in the next ten or twenty years, if they will become impossible to find or buy. Maybe a five-door will do.
~Efini
Gallery:
April 13 2016
October 7 2021
April 19 2023
Read more: SG Archives: ɛ̃fini RX-7
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