02:11 04-01-2026

Daihatsu Copen gets a GR Supra makeover by NATS for Tokyo Auto Salon 2026

Students at Japan’s Nihon Automobile College (NATS) are putting together one of the most intriguing builds headed to the Tokyo Auto Salon 2026: the petite Daihatsu Copen is trying on a Toyota GR Supra look. It sounds like a prank on paper, yet photos and renders point to a cohesive, video game–like show car—as if someone compressed a Supra to kei-car size without sanding off its attitude.

Up front, the standouts are the headlights, essentially lifted from Toyota’s sports car, complete with wide LED accents perched on a pronounced nose. The Copen also wears reworked versions of the bumper and a clamshell-style hood in Supra fashion, while the area behind the front wheels carries those familiar vent-like flourishes. Additional cutouts on the hood appear largely stylistic, though a small cooling benefit wouldn’t be surprising.

The rear is a tougher brief. The short-roadster proportions and folding hardtop don’t perfectly align with the Supra’s fastback ethos, so at certain angles the shape reads more like an ’80s callback than a direct echo of the A80/A90 lineage. It gives the car a quirky charm that feels deliberate rather than accidental.

NATS hasn’t shared technical details yet. In stock form, the Copen uses a 0.7-liter turbocharged three-cylinder (63 hp), and the widened body kit has brought a broader track, new wheels and, in all likelihood, revised suspension tuning.