PHOTO BY TopGear.com
This cutesy kei sports car was never meant to be sold outside of Japan, but Suzuki GB convinced head office to homologate it for the UK. When it arrived for the 1992 British International Motor Show, the little caffeine hit managed to scoop two design awards.
2) Alldays & OnionsPHOTO BY TopGear.com
Possibly the greatest name to ever grace the letterhead of a car manufacturer. Alldays & Onions was a British business that built a number of different automobiles in Birmingham from 1898 right up until World War I. After the war, the cars were sold under the name Enfield Alldays. Boo.
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PHOTO BY TopGear.com
Originally badged as a Datsun and first launched in 1970, the Cherry was Nissan’s first front-engined, front-wheel-drive supermini and officially lived for four generations. Named for Japan’s famous blossoming trees.
4) Nissan S-CargoPHOTO BY TopGear.com
A puntastic name that Top Gear’s headline writers would be proud of. The little S-Cargo van may have been based on the K10 Micra, but it was inspired by the Gallic 2CV Fourgonnette and looked every inch the escargot.
5) Mitsubishi PistachioPHOTO BY TopGear.com
Mitsubishi sold just 50 examples of its 700kg Pistachio, but it was only ever intended to be a fuel-efficient special for local authorities. Based on the Minica kei car and launched in December 1999, it featured a 1.1-liter four-pot and start-stop tech to record well over 34km/L in official tests. Nuts!
6) Toyota CoronaPHOTO BY TopGear.com
The Corona took its name from the Latin word for ‘crown,’ and when launched in the late ’50s it sat just below Toyota’s flagship, the...um, Crown. We’re surprised the Mexican brewery had nothing to say about the name though, given the beer was first drunk in 1925.
7) MGA Developments Hot DogPHOTO BY TopGear.com
Sold at auction earlier this year for just £4,500 (around P380,460 as of writing), this 1989 three-seat Fiesta XR2i-based roadster was built by Coventry-based MGA Developments. It was a pitch to Ford to create something aimed at young buyers, but sadly never got off the ground.
8) Mitsubishi Minica LettucePHOTO BY TopGear.com
Jointly developed with Japan’s Seiyu supermarkets, the Lettuce was a teeny kei car designed for the big shop. It had asymmetrical doors with one on the driver’s side and two on the passenger side so that kids could exit safely.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.