1985 Daihatsu Charade Turbo – Auction Car of the Week

When you think of motorsport legend, Will Hoy, you think of the British Touring Car Championship, Toyotas, BMWs and Fords. And rightly so, as Will was never away from the podium for long. But let us not forget that for every champion racing driver, there is always an ‘origin story’ if you will. They all have to cut their teeth somewhere before team bosses hand them the keys to a top flight racing car. Figuratively speaking, given BTCC cars don’t have keys. Interestingly for Hoy, his story was different to many of his peers, many of whom had started clipping apexes while they were still in school. Hoy, actually started his racing career in his late 20s during the 1960’s. In 1985, he was at an international level, and soon after he would be a star of the BTCC.

During the ’80s, Hoy competed in many a car. Its one of those classic racers that we have here for auction. It’s a 1985 Daihatsu Charade Turbo, and it is every bit the pocket rocket you would hope it to be. And rather wonderfully, it has been kept in period specification. It’s also evident that it has been cared for. Despite being built for serious track use, it seems it’s not once been introduced to the armco, nor has it ever been upside down, which is more than can be said for Hoy’s later BTCC Toyota Carina.

The engine, a feisty three-cylinder turbocharged unit, has only covered just under 5,000 miles. That has, of course, been on the limit. But worry not, as A) it was built to take it and B) it has recently been rebuilt and serviced. Obviously built to race spec, it now features an intercooler for the larger turbo. It’s a screamer, too, with the ability to rev all the way to 9,000rpm. Add in the cheeky side exit exhaust, the stiff race suspension, the bucket seats, the keen brakes and the ludicrously low 500kg curb weight and you have a proper little terrier of a car on your hands. Oh, and don’t think you need to live next to Brands Hatch or Thruxton. This little monster is road legal. It was built to Group N specification, so it always had to be. Brilliant.

The interior is about as well appointed as you would expect for a Daihatsu that has been stripped out for racing. Bucket seats, kill switches, a roll cage, fire suppression system and a collapsible fuel cell are about your lot. Though you do still get door cards, which is nice. The interior is clean, and being exposed it’s easy to satisfy yourself that this Daihatsu has never been wrapped around another racer, or a tree, or the pit wall.

It’s a little slice of history, this car. It still wears the period correct livery, it’s in fine mechanical and structural fettle and having just had the engine rebuilt, it has many giddy laps in its future. Is it competitive by today’s standards? Of course not. But that is not the point. The point with this Daihatsu is to sit in the same seat as a British motorsport legend, to imagine being him and to have fun while doing so. It might be a classic, but this little Daihatsu will still be tremendous fun on a track day, or even on a sunny Sunday blast thanks to its road legal status. It’s fun, it’s characterful, and it’s a genuine slice – albeit it a very small one – of motorsport history. Who wouldn’t want to own something like that?