GIIAS 2017: Daihatsu Canbus and Thor – JDM exhibits

It’s Daihatsu’s tradition to have JDM special exhibits at Indonesia’s motor shows. They are not previews or possibilities, just pure showcars to add variety to the floor. The cute and/or quirky Japanese specials, usually kei-cars, are popular curios – for GIIAS 2017, Daihatsu brought in modified versions of the Canbus and Thor models.

Launched last year in Japan, the Daihatsu Canbus is a van-style kei-car targeted at women. The standard car is cute like a soft toy and comes in pastel colours, but this red showcar has been modded with bits that all guys would approve of. It’s still cute, but the 658cc box appears a lot more sporty with D-Sport’s catalogue of parts.

A new bumper with mesh inserts, black headlamp housings and a black grille are the changes up front. The lowered car rides on gold 16-inch D-Sport wheels, wrapped with Bridgestone UHP rubber. There are “gills” on the front wings and the lower car has been painted black for a two-tone look. Triple pipes, a square cut bumper and a roof spoiler wrap up the extreme exterior makeover.

GIIAS 2017: Daihatsu Canbus and Thor – JDM exhibits

The interior follows the red-black theme of the exterior – the seats, door trim, dashboard trim and steering wheel (a Momo unit) all feature the racy hue.

The modded Canbus is mild compared to the Thor, which looks like a mini Vellfire and more. No surprise then that the Thor’s design concept is “Little Giant”.

This showcar is based on the Thor Custom G turbo (1.0 litre turbo, this isn’t a kei-car), which has the huge multi-plated grille and aggressive bumper you see here as standard. To that, D-Sport added mirror chrome finish to the front and back, and LED light bars on the front side intakes. Like the Canbus, it’s significantly lowered and rides on big 17-inch wheels. Blue contrast is used on the roof and rims.

The VIP-style Daihatsu was trying to achieve is garnished by the snake-skin leather on the seats.

GALLERY: Daihatsu Canbus


GALLERY: Daihatsu Thor

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