Daihatsu's made a weeny Copen shooting brake

We rather like kei cars here at TG, and the Daihatsu Copen is one of our favourites.

Sadly it’s no longer sold on these shores, and our anguish is only set to intensify now that Daihatsu has crafted some wonderful new variants for next week’s Tokyo Auto Salon.

For 14 years the Copen has been sold as a wee convertible, but these concepts diversify the badge beyond its roots.

Our attention is most grabbed by the weeny shooting brake concept (in blue), which looks like the Micro Machines BMW M Coupe we’ve all been dreaming of.

Okay, so its top-heavy proportions are far from beautiful. But neither were the M Coupe’s. Kei cars have always traded off less than conventional styling, the result of their very strict regulations. And the Copen estate-coupe thingy (there’s no official name for it) may be our favourite example yet.

If you want something a little more conventional, then how about the coupe version (in red)? It’s quite different from a fixed-roof version of the standard convertible, resembling a caricature of a mk1 Audi TT. We’re particularly smitten by its BBS wheels…

There’s no word on what powers either of them, but it’s likely the same 63bhp 660cc turbo as the cabrio. Nor has Daihatsu detailed their production potential, but these concepts do look very plausible and finely finished.

Somewhat less plausible is the Copen Adventure concept, previewed in the sketch above. It looks a barrel of laughs, but a hiked-up convertible crossover kei car may be a niche too far.

But in the Japanese car market, perhaps there’s no such thing…