1:24 Daihatsu „Move“ (L600), operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (警視庁, Keishichō), late Nineties (what-if/modified Aoshima kit)

Some background:

The Daihatsu Move (ダイハツ・ムーヴ, Daihatsu Mūvu) was a kei car/city car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since August 1995. Kei car (keijidōsha 軽自動車, "light automobile") is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars, and similar Japanese categories exist for microvans and kei trucks/utility vehicles. The kei car category was created by the Japanese government in 1949, and the regulations have been revised several times since. These regulations specify a maximum vehicle size, engine capacity, and power output, so that owners may enjoy both tax and insurance benefits. In most rural areas they are also exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is available for the vehicle.

 

Kei cars have become very successful in Japan — consisting of over one third of domestic new car sales in fiscal 2016, despite dropping from a record 40% market share in 2013, after the government increased the kei car tax by 50 percent in 2014. However, in export markets, the genre is generally too specialized and too small for most models to be profitable. Notable exceptions exist though, for instance the Suzuki Alto and Jimny models, which were exported consistently from around 1980.

 

The Move was Daihatsu's response to the similarly designed Suzuki Wagon R that was introduced two years earlier in 1993. The Move was built upon the chassis of the popular Mira (L500) family car, but with a taller body, making it a microvan. The first-generation Move was marketed with a 658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder engine in Japan, which developed 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS), and with an 847 cc (51.7 cu in) ED-20 engine in export markets, which also delivered 32 kW but offered more torque than the naturally aspirated 660 cc engines due to its larger displacement. For the domestic market, the Move was later also offered with an optional front-wheel drive model with a turbocharged 658 cc JB-JL four-cylinder engine producing 47 kW (63 hp; 64 PS) – the legal power limit for kei cars, and its top speed was limited to 87 mph (140 km/h) due to the legal restrictions of this vehicle class.

 

The Japanese domestic market models were internally designated L600, or L610 when equipped with four-wheel drive system; L602 was the code for the turbocharged version and export models were internally designated L601. Daihatsu produced more than half a million L600/L610 Move models during its three-year production run, mostly in Japan. It was imported to Europe, too, including the UK, and was furthermore offered with LHD in Continental Europe. In 1997, an upgraded variant with larger headlamps and revised front styling was introduced and marketed as the Move Custom in Japan and was available in subsequent generations, too.

 

However, the Move’s 1999 successor was not exported to Europe anymore, because the Move had turned out to be too similar to the Mira, which had already been sold in Europe for a couple of years under the name Cuore. Here, both models on the same platform and with the same engines filled virtually the same, relatively small microcar niche and sales rather cannibalized each other than being complementarily growing. Nevertheless, the Move microvan remained popular in Japan and Asian markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has so far been produced in six generations, the latest was launched in late 2014.

 

 

General specifications:

Wheelbase: 2,300 mm (90.6 in)

Seating: four passengers

Length: 3,295 mm (129.7 in)

Width: 1,395 mm (54.9 in)

Height: 1,620 mm (63.8 in)

Kerb weight: 690–800 kg (1,521–1,764 lb)

 

Powertrain:

658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder ED-20 engine with 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS)

and a torque of 67 Nm / 49 lb-ft, coupled with a 5-speed manual or a

3- or 4-speed automatic gearbox

 

Performance:

Top speed: 131 km/h (81 mph)

Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 18.3 sec.

0-100 km/h in 19.4 sec

1/4 mile (402 m) drag time: 21 sec. with manual gearbox

Fuel consumption/mileage: 6 l/100km / 47.1 mpg (imp.) / 39.2 mpg (U.S.) / 16.7 km/l EU-cycle

 

 

The kit and its assembly:

Yes, a large-scale car, an exotic topic for me. But the “Blue Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in March 2021 was a good motivator to eventually tackle this project that I had fancied for years but never got myself to procure suitable hardware. I am a huge kei car fan, because these vehicles are a total contrasting concept to ever-growing “normal” cars around them, and there is a wide and very creative range of types around, ranging from sound family cars to vans, utility vehicles or even sports cars (and I am proud to admit that I own and drive such a specimen ^^).

 

Some inspiration for the model came from Kosuke Fujishima’s manga “You are under arrest”, in which, among other kei cars, a tuned, vintage Subaru R-2 in police service, which has its feeble, original 360cc rear engine with 31hp replaced by a Yamaha RZV500R with 80hp, plays a central role. Another factor were personal holiday experiences from a stay in Tokyo some years ago, where I came across several real-world kei cars in police service, including a proud and pristine Suzuki Swift at a rural koban, shiny and always ready for action and crime fighting.

The use of such a wee type of car for police duties appears a bit anachronistic, but these vehicles are just perfect for an urban and typically very tight operational environment. Even fire engines are relatively small in Japan, not bigger than a 7.5 ton truck, because the streets tend to be very narrow.

 

So, a home-made police kei car was the plan. I eventually settled upon an Aoshima 1:24 1st generation Daihatsu Move as a rather dry basis and added typical Japanese police details and equipment. Getting my hands on the police stuff turned out to be a lengthy affair, even though it’s not difficult: Aoshima offers several 1:24 aftermarket sets for conversions, which include flashlights, radio sets and other details. But these are prohibitively expensive, at least for what you get, so that I eventually bought a complete Japanese police car kit, a baroque Aoshima Nissan Cedric (430 Series) sedan. This basically offered the same sprues as the set, at the same price, and it not only supplied a lot of suitable Japanese police detail stuff, including extra flashlights, mirrors or an Asahikage (icon of the national police, “morning sunlight“) badge for the bonnet, it also provided me with a very nice set of optional steel rims. These replaced the Move’s OOB wheel options (either full hub caps or alloy rims for a turbocharged option) for a utility look. As a coincidence they are both 14” size, so that I could use the Move’s relatively narrow rubber tires on the Cedric’s wheels. With the chrome hubcaps, the new black wheels give the vehicle a kind of retro look, and it somehow reminds me of early American Hot Rods? Probably because of the Move’s boxy shape. Weird.

 

The police parts were simply added to the Move kit, but this was not always an easy task. In the cockpit I had to find enough space for the radio set in the dashboard, and the flashing lights had to be modified to suit the Move’s narrow roof – which thankfully features fixed rails, so that the bulky housing could be easily mounted over the B-pillar. I also found that one of the red flashing lights that are typically mounted to the front was missing, so that I had to improvise that and create suitable holders. Further additions include in- and external extra mirrors for the co-driver, a scratched notepad and a kind of chocolate bar on the dashboard.

 

 

Painting and markings:

Thanks to some preparation time for the GB since November 2020 I was able to get my hands on a rattle can with a Toyota white car paint (BTW, Daihatsu is part of Toyota), just on the last day before everything was shut down in Germany due to Covid-19 lockdown (lasting until building commenced in March 2021!). The plan was to stay as close to the typical TMPD paint scheme as possible, with a white upper car body and black lower flanks as well as a stylish black blaze on the bonnet.

 

Keeping things simple and easy, the hull was treated with white acrylic primer first and then painted with the Toyota tone. I am not certain whether an official White for Japanese police cars exists or not? In Germany there are RAL stones, but elsewhere…?

The black trim areas were created with decals and/or paint – either from the Cedric’s OOB sheet or from generic stripes (TL Modellbau), which were used instead of tape masking to create sharp demarcation lines, while the rest was filled with black (Humbrol 21). The fixed rails on the roof and the small spoiler became black, too, matching the flashlights’ housing. The window frames were painted in Tar Black (Revell 06), which is a very dark grey and rather looks like the typical rubber seals and plastic fairings than pure black.

Since a real-world police car would not be too flashy and rather have a robust utility look, I painted the bumpers in dark grey (Humbrol 67), later slightly dry-brushed with medium grey, simulating bare plastic. Not elegant, but a nice, slight contrast to the stark black/white livery. The chassis plate/suspension/underside was painted in semi-matt black, as well as the steel rims with their chrome caps. These suit the Move IMHO surprisingly well!

 

With simplicity and sobriety in mind, the interior was painted in medium grey, in this case Humbrol 164 (RAF Dark Sea Grey). A light black ink wash was applied to the seats and dry-brushing with light grey was added, too, to simulate fabric texture. The dashboard became grey, too, with black details like the instrument panel, vents and some switches. The radio set was painted black, too, to highlight it and underline that it is a retrofitted piece – even though this is hard to see from the outside.

 

Once all decals (a mix from the Move and the Cedric sheets) were in place and the door outlines emphasized with black ink, the car body was sealed with glossy acrylic varnish and the bumpers received a semi-matt finish, for the bare plastic look. The mirror surfaces were created with a self-adhesive, highly reflective foil, which – even though it is a bit thick – looks much better than any painted solution.

 

For the license plate I went for a typical yellow kei car version – even though I have seen police kei cars carrying white plates with green letters, which indicate special vehicles that have to undergo annual inspection. This is frequently found on “normal” Japanese police cars, and an option in the Cedric kit. But I found the yellow ones more suitable and attractive – maybe it’s a lethal flaw (also the selected numbers and kanji), but that’s already quite nit-picky.

 

 

An exotic topic, at least for me, and it’s also full of nostalgia and vacation memories. However, I think that the police Move looks pretty good and believable, it turned out better than expected and hoped for. It’s also kind of cute (kawaii!)!

And now I have a surplus car kit, the Nissan Cedric, too…

Done