Is This Nissan GT-R Lookalike Daihatsu Copen Worth 60,000 Australian Dollars?

Remember when Snapchat came out with that face-swapping filter, which people used with varying results? Sometimes, two people would swap faces and both look great, and sometimes the filter picked up something that wasn’t a face. I reckon this Daihatsu Copen up for sale in Australia leans more towards the former than the latter, as it features a second-facelift Nissan GT-R-like body kit made by Liberty Walk.

Yes, the same company chiefly known for bolting overfenders to exotic cars also makes a kit to turn any second-generation Daihatsu Copen into a miniature Nissan GT-R lookalike, and this particular one seems to be featured on Liberty Walk’s website. Although the wheels are different, the yellow paint and Recaro seats check out, and how many of these GT-R mini-mes could possibly exist?

If you aren’t familiar with the Daihatsu Copen, this tiny front-wheel-drive convertible falls under Japan’s kei class of vehicles, meaning it gets strategic tax breaks, makes a mere 63 horsepower, and fits pretty much wherever you please. This second-generation car came out in 2014 and is available in a variety of appearances, from a round-lamped retro model to a black-clad gravel road model to a GR Sport model. Right, back to the kit.

As with most of Liberty Walk’s kits, the GT-R Copen kit appears well-done, scaling the GT-R’s fascia features down to kei car proportions while utilizing enough stock Copen lines to flow fairly well with the existing coachwork. I’m particularly pleased by how the grille silhouette has been cheated slightly to line up with the character lines coming off the stock hood.

It’s worth noting that this is a fairly extensive kit, and one that should be reversible thanks to the second-gen Copen’s plastic-paneled construction. See, this Mk2 model was designed from the start to have swappable body panels for relatively inexpensive cosmetic alterations, so pretty much everything from the bumpers to the quarter panels just bolts on. Unsurprisingly, the light fixtures on this Copen are stock, likely to keep things legal and simple, but the bumpers, skirts, overfenders, mirror caps, and all the bumper trim comes purely from the mind of Liberty Walk.

However, all this stuff doesn’t come cheap. The body kit with overfenders costs $3,432 to $4,235 depending on which wing you choose, but that’s only where the costs begin. The LED daytime running lights are an extra $121, the mirror covers retail for $374, the big old front splitter costs $330, the side lips $407, and the quad-tip exhaust a whopping $2,541. Add it all up and you’re looking at between $7,205 and $8,008 (heh) in Liberty Walk bits on a Daihatsu Copen.

You’d be forgiven for expecting this pint-sized nose-swapped machine to feature a manual gearbox, but paddle shifters are clearly visible behind the ill-advised aftermarket steering wheel. A quick check of the listing confirms that yes, indeed, this is an automatic Daihatsu Copen, and the automatic option on the second-generation car doesn’t sound particularly scintillating. That’s because it’s a continuously variable transmission with seven fake fixed ratios. While likely the sensible pick for awful traffic, the standard five-speed manual gearbox sounds far more exciting for wringing the most out of the Copen’s little 658cc 63-horsepower turbocharged three-cylinder engine.

So, is a GT-R-aping automatic Daihatsu Copen worth $60,000 Australian? Probably not. For context, a second-generation Subaru BRZ can be had for around $15,000 less, and without the kei car tax breaks of Japan, is a much more powerful yet still sharp car. Want a drop top? Well, that’s brand new Mazda MX-5 money, and then you get to choose a manual gearbox. However, if you are a bit eccentric and have a thing for Japanese tuning, perhaps you’re the right person for this odd Copen.

[Hat tip to cautionary-tail-light!]

(Photo credits: Seller, Liberty Walk, Daihatsu)

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