Description

The Daihatsu CO was a small, three-wheeled truck produced in Japan during the 1930s, a period when the country was undergoing industrial expansion and increasing urbanisation. It was one of Daihatsu’s earliest motorised commercial vehicles and reflected the company’s focus on compact, lightweight transport solutions for small businesses and tradesmen.

The CO followed the typical format of early Japanese motorised utility vehicles. It had a single front wheel for steering and two rear wheels for load support, forming a tricycle layout that allowed for a very tight turning radius. This configuration made it particularly useful in narrow streets and crowded urban environments, where larger four-wheeled vehicles were impractical.

Power came from a small air-cooled engine, likely a single-cylinder petrol unit with a displacement of under 500 cc. The engine was mounted in the rear section, and power was transmitted to the rear wheels through a basic manual gearbox. The focus was on reliability and simplicity, with ease of maintenance being a key priority for its intended users.

The CO featured an open driver’s cabin, often with little more than a windscreen and a roof for protection. The body was utilitarian and built for function rather than comfort. Behind the driver was a small cargo bed, typically flat and capable of carrying modest loads such as produce, tools, or light industrial goods.

During this era, Japan was still heavily reliant on human-powered carts and bicycles for local transport, so vehicles like the Daihatsu CO represented a significant step forward in terms of efficiency. They allowed small enterprises and shopkeepers to extend their delivery ranges and improve turnaround times.

Production of the Daihatsu CO remained limited, and it was eventually succeeded by more advanced three-wheelers such as the Daihatsu Bee and, later, by four-wheeled kei trucks. Nonetheless, the CO is historically significant as one of the early milestones in Daihatsu’s development as a manufacturer of small commercial vehicles.

Today, the Daihatsu CO is extremely rare and mostly known through historical archives or preserved examples in Japanese transportation museums. It represents the early ingenuity of Japan’s automotive industry and Daihatsu’s longstanding commitment to compact, practical mobility.