It also provided the basis for countless unlicensed Chinese copies, often depending on fibreglass moldings taken from the second generation Charade.

It was a front-engined front-wheel drive car, originally available only as a five-door hatchback, powered by a 993 cc three-cylinder, all-aluminum engine (CB20) with 50 PS (37 kW).

[4] The three-door hatchback version ("Runabout"), introduced in the fall of 1978, received two small circular opera windows in the C-pillars.

[5] The Charade was a surprise best-seller in Japan, where ever tighter emissions standards had made many observers consider the one-litre car dead in the marketplace.

Originally the same as in the rest of the world, later Chilean Charades (called G20s) came equipped with a downsleeved 843 cc version (CD) of Daihatsu's three-cylinder engine.

The Greek Automeccanica company, founded in 1979, developed an off-road style torpedo design version of the Charade à la the Citroën Méhari.

Production began in 1981 and continued until 1985, by which point changing Greek tax laws meant that this "fun car" could no longer be registered as a commercial vehicle and the market evaporated.

To demonstrate the reliability of the new diesel engine, a Charade thus equipped was taken for 10 non-stop laps around the Japanese archipelago; the run lasted 117 days.

[27] The base Charades received the naturally aspirated, three cylinder, 993 cc CB-series[nb 2] engines with 52–60 PS (38–44 kW; 51–59 bhp).

Japanese market models had twin carburettors as standard, while most export versions received a single unit which made marginally less power.

[28] In Chile (and some other Latin American countries) this generation was called the G21, and like the G20 before it, it was equipped with the smaller 41 PS (30 kW; 40 bhp) 843 cc three-cylinder "CD" engine.

[33] To escape quotas and some of the ADR strictures, the high-roof van version was sold in Australia as the Daihatsu Charade Duet in parallel with the passenger models.

In 1987 they also presented a locally developed longer notchback version of the five-door, similar to the Subaru Tutto and Nissan March Cubic, sold as the Daihatsu Skywing.

[38] In October 1985, at the 26th Tokyo Motor Show, Daihatsu introduced the 926R, a prototype of a mid engine Charade, developed together with De Tomaso and designed to take part in the World Rally Championship for cars under 1,300 cc.

The 926R had a mid-mounted 926 cc twelve valve, twin-cam, turbocharged three-cylinder "CE" engine, moving the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission and delivering 120 PS (88 kW; 118 bhp).

There was also a limited homologation series of 200 units Charade 926 Turbo launched in November, equipped with the SOHC 6-valve version of the 926 cc engine and producing 73 PS (54 kW; 72 bhp) (JIS).

[45][46] The Swiss Daihatsu importer campaigned a Charade Turbo in their national Group A rally championship in 1985, with Florence L'Huillier as a driver.

[51] With styling by Daihatsu chief stylist Hiroshi Aoki and colleague Hideyuki Ueda,[52] the more rounded design was able to reach a drag coefficient of Cd=0.32.

[53] It originally shipped with a carbureted or fuel injected naturally aspirated (CB23/36/37/90) and turbocharged (CB51/61) SOHC 6-valve 1.0-litre three-cylinder engines, also available as a diesel and turbodiesel (CL series).

[55] The turbocharged SOHC 6-valve 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine was discontinued in February 1988 (until mid 1989 for several export markets) and replaced with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder with single carburetor or fuel injection (HC-E/F).

[57] Featuring fully independent suspension front and rear, either three-door or five-door hatchback body styles were originally offered.

A 1.0-litre twin-cam fuel injected intercooled turbo (CB70/80), named GTti and delivering 105 PS (104 hp; 77 kW) was later added, only available as a three-door hatch.

A slight facelift in February 1989 gave the cars smoother style rear lights and reflector panel, a slightly longer tailgate top spoiler, increased 70 mm length for hatchback (except for GTti/GT-XX), longer front blinkers (except for GTti/GT-XX) and a revised interior trim with fabric also on the door trim panels.

The car sold poorly, despite construction "as tight as a frozen head bolt"[52] and attractive styling for the market segment,[52] perhaps because of its high price, few dealerships, rough-running three-cylinder, and low performance (0-60 mph or 97 km/h in 15 seconds).

The North American Charade appeared in three different trim levels until 1989; the CES (base model), CLS, and CLX.

[60] In the Australian market, the GTti was unavailable and the turbocharged petrol Charade used the lower powered carbureted engine (CB61) from the previous generation.

[63] Initially, it was only available as a 5-door hatchback with 60 PS (59 hp; 44 kW) carbureted 1.0-litre three-cylinder CB23 petrol engine from the previous generation with a single CX trim.

De Tomaso added their own bodykit, Recaro seats, a Nardi Torino steering wheel, and Pirelli sports tires.

Chinese brand Ling Kong made a series of cars based on the Tianjin Xiali in exterior design and was known as the KJ6380.

An 800 cc three cylinder engine came standard producing 55 horsepower and 76 newton metres of torque paired to a 5 speed manual gearbox.