- The new “80’s Side Kick” from Damd adds retro-inspired elements, including a new grille and wheels.
- It will also be available with a choice of houndstooth seat covers and side stickers.
- The Daihatsu Taft 80’s Side Kick is the latest in a long line of face-swapped Kei cars from Damd.
Japanese tuner Damd is best known for its range of styling kits. If you don’t know, then perhaps their efforts can be best described as channeling the movie Face Off—swapping looks from iconic cars onto some of Japan’s best-loved Keis. One of their greatest hits includes their Suzuki Jimny product catalog, which includes everything from a G-wagon-esque nose job to a full-on Lancia Delta Integrale face swap.
But it’s not just the Jimny that gets the Damd treatment. They offer body kits for a wide range of Japanese cars, from some rather mild and tasteful offerings to more unholy styling department interbreeding, like an Aston Martin-inspired Toyota GT86 “Vantage.”
Read: DAMD Turns The Suzuki Jimny Into Lancia Delta Integrale And R5 Turbo Lookalikes
With their latest offering, Damd has lent its styling to the LA90-generation Daihatsu Taft. The Taft is a small Kei car designed by the factory to look like a crossover SUV, in the same vein as the Suzuki Hustler. But while the Taft is available in an all-wheel-drive variant, it’s more geared towards providing extra traction in inclement weather, not genuine off-road ability.
Damd has already tried its hand at improving the looks of the Taft, introducing a Defender-inspired “Little D” variant, along with a retro-themed design package known as the “80’s”. Their latest offering is a variation on the same kit, dubbed the Taft 80’s Side Kick.
Troubling apostrophe placement aside, the 80’s Side Kick evokes the looks of classic off-roaders and pickups, like the 60-series Toyota Land Cruiser. With the Side Kick, though, you now get a gunmetal grey grille with black accents, and some tasty Damd Cantabile rims in black, which in the promotional pictures are shod in some rather ambitious Toyo Open Country rugged terrain off-road tires.
Further enhancing the vintage look are retro-inspired side sticker seat covers available in a light green houndstooth pattern with yellow and black, and a gray and red check pattern. Damd will offer the complete unpainted kit for 319,000 yen ($2,020), or you can mix and match. The face change is priced at 173,800 yen ($1,100) and 52,800 yen ($334) for the “80’s Vintage Stripe.”
