Small yet mighty

There’s only one expression for this pint-sized duo: Small yet mighty.

While the classic snobs will sneer at these petite five-doors, our Daihatsu and Perodua’s reliability, low running costs and downright great fun can’t be beaten.

The Nippa has been on The Special’s fleet for more than 15 years. It was bought as stop-gap runaround to replace a much-loved yet surprisingly juicy Volvo 244, and was bought from a local car dealer after seeing an advert in the local paper.

Costing £500 back then yes, some money has been spent over the years on floor and wheelarch welding, as well as one replacement radiator and two replacement batteries. Yet with regular maintenance it goes on and on and… well, you get our drift.

Ten years ago it was fitted with a set of banded steels, these then being fitted with moon-disc lookalikes. Now it’s back to the uncovered banded steels, superbly re-finished by Llanelli’s WheelWorkz.

The Nippa’s only downside is the abysmal heater, meaning Mrs Special doesn’t like using it in the winter, whereas The Special’s guv’nor has no objection. Still if it really gets cold there’s always the Cuore…

… which was advertised on Gumtree. It’s been around a fair bit, being sold new on the Isle of Wight, heading to the Liverpool area and then down to West Wales. With automatic transmission, electric windows all-round, central locking AND power steering its ‘upmarket’ specification makes it just about THE most-used vehicle at Special HQ. Again there’s been some sill welding in the past couple of years but it always starts first time and is just about as economical as the Nippa – and these days that’s something to be grateful for.