1996 DAIHATSU Valera 1.5L 5MT (90 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Aware of the increase in the small sedan market, Daihatsu tried to make its way on some markets with a three-box design vehicle based on its already known Charade hatchback.

Various carmakers tried to make a sedan out of a regular hatchback. They all failed. Renault tried it with the R5 Sedan, and then with the Renault Thalia. Skoda went on the same road with the Fabia Sedan and dropped it after one generation, and Daihatsu suffered the same disappointment for the Valera sedan.

While the Charade was a nimble, light hatchback, the Valera was a different kind of vehicle. Its three-box shape couldn’t hide the fact that it shared way too many body panels with the Charade. At the front, it featured a pair of rounded headlights narrower on the inside than the outbound. The smiling-face shape of the grille couldn’t improve the vehicle’s image. From the side, the added trunk behind the C-pillars was just a cube added to a car that wasn’t made to be in a three-box design.

Inside, it was a simple Charade with the same steering wheel, a plastic center stack, and a few extra buttons. But despite being a small vehicle, Daihatsu considered offering the car with all the necessary needs for a car from those times, including four power-windows, air-conditioning, and central locking.

Daihatsu offered the Valera with a choice of engines ranged between 1.0-liter to a 1.6-liter unit. The latter was diesel, and it didn’t live long enough. It was something that didn’t work for the customers. The all-wheel-drive system, though, was in high demand for specific markets.