If you’re sitting here thinking that you have seen this car before it’s because you probably have. A few years ago Nozomu Yamamoto took the Japanese Kei car scene by storm with one of the lowest driving Miras in the world. Not one to be easily satisfied with the shelf life of a build phase he went back to the drawing board and begin brainstorming on how to push the envelope even further than he already had.

In the car’s early days it was static dropped on a unique set of rollers with Oni camber that is commonplace across the pond and while it stole the show wherever he scraped to  it needed some fine tuning in his opinion. The quality of work seen here looks as if the pint sized Mira just came off the lift at a high-end tuning shop like 326 Power or the like, but Yamamoto being the craftsman that he is, turned all of the wrenches himself.

All of the bodywork was fabricated from scratch with a majority of the panels being custom made with carbon fiber and kevlar. The wide-body flares are one off and fit the wheels flawlessly. He made a complete 180 degree turn in terms of styling from the last iteration to now and opted for a wider stance with a more aggressive offset to benefit his desire to get sideways.

The think-tanks at Daihatsu didn’t intend for these little machines to shred tires at Suzuka or Tsukuba and were offered with a measly 500cc lump from the factory. Yamamoto swapped the motor for a 1.8 liter, four cylinder engine from an MX-5 Eunos more commonly referred to as a Miata here in the States. The setup is rev-happy enough to spin the rear wheels with ease as the power to weight ratio is rather impressive.

Along with the shell and chassis, the interior was also put together by Nozomu and offers little amenities or creature comforts besides a steering wheel, handbrake, shifter and three pedals. Little else is needed in a purpose built race car such as this.

While this Kei car may be the talk of Japan at the moment the one thing that makes it the most unique is the sense of mystery surrounding it. One day it’s cruising along the glass like roads of the countryside and seemingly overnight it shows its teeth at the local circuit ready to do battle with Silvias and Skylines alike. Nozomu Yamamoto is definitely here to stay and I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see his infamous Daihatsu grace our pages. Here are some more pictures to check out in the meantime!

Shredded drift spares indicate a successful day at the track.