It also gave kei car customers a kind of scaled-down NSX to play with. The 656cc naturally aspirated three-cylinder makes the most incredible noise, partly on account of its 8,500rpm red line (peak power of 63bhp is made at 8,100rpm), and partly because each cylinder has its own throttle body to admit air and fuel. It’s mid-engined too, which plays havoc with boot space, but makes the mad zebra-print interior more spacious than you’d expect for a 3.3-metre long car.
Suzuki Alto Works
Plenty of companies have made performance-focused kei cars, but the Alto Works is among the best known. Suzuki has been making them since 1984, and while it doesn’t currently sell a Works model brand new, there have been five generations to choose from over the last four decades. The recipe has always been the same: a body kit that treads the line between mean and cute like a cartoon baby dragon, a turbocharged three-cylinder, and more often than not, a manual gearbox.
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The 657cc second-gen (1990-1994) and third-gen (1994-2000) models are probably the most coveted, not least for their regular appearances in Gran Turismo games and on Japanese automotive TV show Best Motoring, where they typically put in giant-killing performances. After disappearing in the mid-Noughties, the Works badge returned in 2015, with a pugnacious look, KYB dampers, Recaro seats and Enkei wheels.
Honda S660
The Daihatsu Copen kept the kei sports car flag flying after the AZ-1, Beat and Cappuccino left the market, but in 2015 Honda joined the fray once again, with the S660. Spiritual successor to the Beat, the S660 was once again mid-engined, but this time used a targa-style roof arrangement and had a turbocharger to help its 658cc three-cylinder along.