Copen — My Best Decision of 2006!

 Looking back at 2006,

there’s no doubt —
the biggest event of my year was buying the Copen.

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It’s small and incredibly easy to handle in city traffic.
It’s agile, fun, and quick on its feet.
And thanks to the electric roof,
I can go open-top anytime the mood strikes.

It may be a kei car,
but it doesn’t feel cheap at all.
I wouldn’t call it luxurious —
but there’s a real sense of quality and satisfaction.

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With its turbocharged engine,
it pulls hard even on steep hills.
The 660cc 4-cylinder DOHC revs smoothly all the way to 8000 rpm.
No stress — just joy.

RECARO seats, MOMO steering wheel, Potenza tires...
Maybe it’s just psychological,
but all of it makes me feel like driving more energetically!

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From the outside,
a guy like me — 183 cm tall and weighing 79 kg —
must look kinda funny squeezed into this tiny car. (lol)

But I think that’s exactly what makes the Copen so special.

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It’s all about the kei car category —
the fact that it was built within tight limitations.

If you scaled the whole thing up by 1.2x
and turned it into a standard-size car,
it would lose half its charm — or more.

What makes the Copen brilliant is that feeling of
"We pushed the kei car limits to the edge — and packed it with everything we could."

If you removed those limits,
maybe the overall engineering would improve...
but you’d lose the unique tension and soul this car has.

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Seven years ago,
I parted ways — in tears — with my R32 Skyline.
Since then, I tried not to think too much about cars.
But after meeting the Copen,
my car life changed completely.

Before the Copen,
I always thought:
"Someday, I’ll return to the Skyline..."
But now?

That thought is completely gone.

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I use the Copen for daily commuting.
And when I drive with the top down —
morning or night —
it literally changes the way I see the world.

Some might scoff:
"It’s just a kei car."
But if a kei car can offer this much pleasure,
this much richness —
then I’m glad I chose the Copen.

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Yes, that’s right.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a kei car, a regular car, a foreign car, a domestic car —
big engine, small engine —
none of that matters.

If it makes you happy — that’s all that counts.

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The Copen is:

• Fun to drive
• A joy to go open-top
• And even parked, it’s cute just to look at

Seriously — it’s adorable.

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Copen is the best.

Unless something truly drastic happens,
I’m going to drive this car until the end of my life.

(That said, the tires are wearing out — so I guess that’s next year’s task!)