1979 Daihatsu F50 review from UK and Ireland

Nothing whatsoever that could be blamed on the car, only an old battery that needed replacing and a sheared wheel nut.

This is Daihatsu F50, but not as most people will know it. It had a glassfibre Jeep-alike shell grafted onto it in 1986 and goes under the name of 'Eagle RV DB 50'. Okay... so it's a kitcar, but it isn't shoddy in any way.

It's truly brilliant off the road, despite slightly low ground clearance at some points, i.e. the fuel tank, diff casings. Shove it into 2nd low, engage the hubs and it'll get out of just about anything. The axle articulation is only adequate, but it's probably better than the 'Series' Land Rover.

It's amazingly well balanced on the road, probably a lot to do with the short wheel base, short overhangs, and stiff leaf springs. Though of course you'll never corner at more than 35 or 40 mph...

It maxes out at about 65 mph until you die of buffeting from the soft top. But you can still hold conversations in it!

Given its age (24 years later this year) you'd expect everything to feel rough and notchy, but it's a testament to Daihatsu reliability that everything still works smoothly. At 75,000 miles it's hardly run in...