2001 DAIHATSU Sirion 1.3L 5MT FWD (101 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Daihatsu introduced the Sirion on the market in 1998 and refreshed it three years later, but without too much success to the public.

Toyota owned the Daihatsu brand, one of the oldest Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers. A brand which was known on its home market for producing kei-cars and tricycles. But its parent company thought that it might be a good idea to offer Daihatsu as a sub-brand with more affordable vehicles. Unfortunately, that parent company didn’t care about the design department. So, Daihatsu made the Sirion in 1998 and launched it on the market in the small segment. Later on, it introduced a facelifted version.

From the outside, the car looked bland despite its retro-styling. The rounded, then swept-back headlights with a small added lamp on the inner side looked like they were designed after the entire vehicle was ready to roll. A black grille was cut into the front bumper. From its sides, the only interesting part was the third window behind the rear doors. Other than that, it was a biodesign example that didn’t fit in the market anymore. As the last scream for attention, the Sirion sported a chromed line on the sides complemented by chromed door handles.

Inside, the car was surprisingly spacious, and that was the main reason people bought it despite its higher price than a Ford Fiesta. Inside, Toyota insisted that the car should offer a few standard features such as the air conditioning and the front power-windows. As for the materials used, that’s another story.

Under the hood, Daihatsu installed its 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine for the base model and a 1.3-liter, inline-four, carried over from the Yaris.