Description
Recently returned from Concours at the Festival of the Unexceptional, I’ve owned this Nippa EX for two years and enjoyed every second.
Purchased as a very solid car with some useful history, I resolved to turn it into something that I could show and use for adventures.
The car has just over 33, 000 miles on the clock and comes with a folder of history, dating back about five years since it was pulled out of a shed after being laid up for a decade. MOT to June 2026.
During my time with the car it has had:
Timing belt
5 new tyres including spare
Wheel refurb
Partial respray
Waxoyl underseal professionally applied
New headlining
New old stock rear bumper
New old stock OE exhaust
Bespoke 3D printed replacement hub caps with correct log
Reproduction dealer numberplates
Two oil change services, coolant, brake fluid flush and replace
The underside of the car is 100% original and completely solid. The bodywork is in really good shape having had some scuffs and bumps professionally removed.
The Nippa is a rebadged Daihatsu Mira, built by Perodua in Malaysia. It was Britain’s cheapest car for a few years in the late 90s but very few survive.
Despite this, it’s an absolute hoot to drive and, as I’ve discovered capable of serious road tripping. This car has attended the Festival of the Unexceptional twice and even better, EMWalhalla twice, involving a journey through the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The EX version is absolutely basic. It has nothing. No rear wiper, no wheel trims, windy windows, no power steering. It is budget motoring personified and all the better for it.
This tiny little car gets attention wherever it goes. Park it next to a Ferrari at a classic car show, and everyone will flock to the Nippa.
Despite having a tiny 850cc engine with 42BHP, it’ll fly along and hold its own in modern motorway traffic. It costs peanuts to run and being a Daihatsu, parts aren’t an issue.
I am going to miss this car terribly but with my kids growing, it’s time to try and find a replacement with a bit more room.
No swaps, please. There are only about 30 of these left, with the number dwindling every month.
Apparently owned by a Malaysian lady from new, it ended up being laid up in a dry store for a decade, explaining how it survives in such good shape today.
There are still signs of its survival story, with a little bumps, surface corrosion to mild steel components in the engine bay and so on, but I’m going to say this is the best example in the country.
