The Daihatsu Mira story part 1: From humble kei car to Perodua Kancil
CY Foong · May 28, 2022 12:00 PM
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The Mira nameplate existed for around 40 years
Many Kancils, Kelisas, and Vivas have been converted to their respective JDM twins
In Part 1 of this two-part article, we'll focus on the first 3 generations of the Mira
Ever since the first Perodua went on sale in 1994, the art of converting Malaysia’s second “national” carmaker into a Daihatsu has been quite the automotive subculture that is both embraced and ridiculed.
Converting a Kancil, Kelisa, or Viva isn’t very expensive and there are numerous half-cut shops around the country that offer Daihatsu Mira parts if one wishes to do so. The Mira is associated over here with Peroduas given a “JDM” facelift by their owners but for around 40 years, it has been known more as a humble car that drove Japan.
For a little car with a storied history, it won't do justice to fit everything into one article. So, we'll focus on the Mira's first 3 generations leading up to the L200 which became the basis for Malaysia's very own people's car.
Even though Daihatsu is well known for its compact kei cars, the company’s first proper passenger car was a small sedan called the Daihatsu Compagno in 1963. Daihatsu was mainly producing kei trucks and three-wheelers like the Hijet and Midget prior.
Three years later in 1966, Daihatsu would launch its first kei car called the Daihatsu Fellow which was powered by a two-stroke 360-cc engine (26 PS/34.3 Nm). It was also exported overseas with the same tiny engine and a more straightforward name (Daihatsu 360) but it sold poorly.
The Fellow would switch layout from rear-wheel drive (RWD) to front-wheel drive (FWD) for the second generation in 1970. Later on, kei car regulations were changed to increase the engine size from 360-cc to 550-cc and after 14 years, the Fellow was discontinued as Daihatsu sought a more modern replacement.
The first-generation Daihatsu Mira, the L55 was launched in 1980 and the name meant ‘goal’ or ‘purpose’ in Latin. Like its predecessor, the Mira was also exported overseas as the Daihatsu Cuore but these came with the bigger 617-cc 2-cylinder motor (31 PS).
The Mira’s name might bring some sort of luck as the L55 was quite successful overseas as a cheap and reliable car. It fit right at home in the tight European streets and even performed well in South America with around 4,300 units sold in Argentina and Chile.
The second-generation Mira, the L70, would also enjoy similar success in the global markets with bigger and more powerful engines introduced in the form of the 800-cc (41 PS/62 Nm) and 850-cc (44 PS/63 Nm) 3-pot units.
Despite that, if you wanted a unique Mira, you’d have to be living in Japan as Daihatsu would introduce a unique variant called the Walk-Through Van. It had only one door on the passenger side that opened like a bathroom door and looked like a baby container box with the Mira’s hood grafted in front.
Production for the boxy L70 would end in 1990, replaced by the curvier and more familiar L200. But this generation’s tale isn’t over as it would continue to be assembled and sold in Thailand as a pick-up truck.
The Mira pick-up would become surprisingly popular in the Kingdom in the 1990s, filling up a very niche segment of tiny trucks in this truck-loving country. It was offered with a single cab, extended cab, and covered ‘wagon’ bodies.
Hot hatches, 4x4s, and Moderno
The L200 Mira is the most popular generation and that is thanks to the multiple variants and special editions introduced. The most highly coveted Mira conversion is the TR-XX variant which was the Mira hot hatch and its top variant.
It was powered by the fuel-injected turbocharged 660-cc EF-JL (64 PS/92 Nm) 3-cylinder engine for the 5-door or a carbureted 6-valve version of the same unit, EF-XL (61 PS/84 Nm) on the 3-door “van” version.
But that wasn’t the ultimate version of the L200 as there was the X4-R, a purpose-built Mira that was sold to defeat the Suzuki Alto Works in the All-Japan Rally Championship Class A. It was lighter and had 4WD, but power remains restricted to the regulatory 64 PS output.
Still, in the rally circuit, the Mira was a very worthy challenger, having dominated 2nd to 5th place in its debut race in 1991. Out of the 9 races in the season, Daihatsu would win 5 of them and would take the driver’s championship title in 1992. Mission accomplished then.
In 1992, the Mira would further expand its lineup with the addition of a crossover variant called the RV-4 to ride with the “recreational vehicle” wave of 1990s Japan. This saw the 3-door variants being given a raised suspension, plastic cladding, roof racks, a bullbar, and a spare wheel cover.
The Mira RV-4 came with the same turbocharged engine as the TR-XX with all-wheel drive. It was the Kancil ‘Style’ done properly two decades before the jacked-up Axia went on sale.
The Walk-Through Van variant from the L70 was carried into the new generation with the same quirky hood jutting out of its otherwise boxy rear design. Perodua once even showcased a Kancil Walk-Through Van at the 1996 Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) but this only remained a concept.
There is also a special variant of the van called Michito. This is even rarer and quirkier than the regular Walk-Through Van with its curved roof and gullwing doors in the cargo compartment. The Japanese Bubble Era was quite an interesting period indeed.
Another variant popular with the Kancil conversion community is the Mira Moderno. It was a slightly redesigned Mira with a different front and rear design and electrically adjustable mirrors. Other than those features, it was essentially like the regular L200 which ran in Japan until 1994.
As the L200’s chapter closed, a new one was opening up in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, the little car was launched as the Perodua Kancil and was exported into Indonesia as the Daihatsu Ceria. The Malaysian and Indo rebadges proved to be blank canvases for potential conversion projects but over in the Philippines, the L200 was given a very drastic makeover.
Called the Norkis Legacy, it was a pick-up truck just like the Thai Mira. The Legacy was sold as a single cab or a double cab with the latter featuring a strange botched rearjob. Little information is known about this strange Filipino Mira but it is said that power came from a 660-cc turbocharged or naturally-aspirated engine.
The Mira's popularity in Southeast Asia exploded thanks to the Perodua Kancil's success in Malaysia. However, this was only a taste of what was to come for the cult kei hero as we take a look at its successors in part 2 of the Mira's history so do stay tuned for that.
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
