Here we have a Daihatsu Dario Terios, seen in Beijing with license plates that seemed as old as the car. The Dario Terios was in reasonable shape, painted dark blue and gray, and fitted with sidebars and original five-spoke wheels.
The Daihatsu Dario Terios was made in China by Tianjin FAW Huali (天津一汽华利), a subsidiary of Tianjin FAW (天津一汽), itself a subsidiary of FAW (一汽汽车). FAW Huali was founded in 1984. Initially, it made a licensed version of the Daihatsu Hijet, called the Huali Dafa. In the early 2000ss, FAW Huali started producing licensed versions of the second-generation Daihatsu Move (Huali Happy Messenger) and the first-generation Daihatsu Terios.
Here, the naming situation was a bit more complex. At the time, Daihatsu was planning to enter the Chinese market officially and under its own name, in a new joint venture with FAW Huali. Therefore, the Terios was branded Daihatsu and not Huali. The type-name changed from ‘Terios’ to ‘Dario Terios’. In Chinese: Dario = 达路 (Dálù), Terios = 特锐 (Tèruì). It was commonly referred to as 达路 · 特锐, with a ‘·’ between the two names.
The designation was CA7130. This was further divided by: CA7130SD, CA7130SA, CA7130AT, CA7130S, and the CA7130ST as we have here today. The China-made Dario Terios had a cool sticker on the back with the full designation.
Production of the Daihatsu Dario Terios started in 2003. The company offered RWD and 4WD versions. Our car has the CX trim level, which means it is a 4WD car.
The interior was very basic, with lots of gray plastics. To spice things up, it had a sporty 3-spoke steering wheel and white dials in the instrument panel. The interior of this car is in remarkably good shape. The seats look neat, and it has the original cover around the gear lever. The plastics need a cleanup but seem fine as well. The steering wheel cover is a typical Chinese after-market extra.
The owner tried to protect the seats with seat covers, but the covers fell apart. Perhaps he should have covered the covers as well.
The rear with an after-market bar on the bumper. The spoiler and the spare wheel cover were factory-standard.
The only engine available was the Daihatsu K3VE 1.3-liter four-cylinder petrol engine. The output was 86 hp and 120 Nm, good for a 140 km/h top speed. Buyers could choose between a 4-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual. The RWD bade model sold for 98.800 yuan in 2003. The CX model, with AWD and a manual sold for 124.800. At the time, not many cars in this segment had ABS, hence the A.B.S. sticker.
Production of the Dario Terios continued until 2009 when Daihatsu withdrew from the Chinese market due to disappointing sales. Tese days, the cool little 4×4 is a rare sight on the road. Its engine is in no way clean enough for Beijing’s emissions standards, so most are scrapped or sold to other provinces.
How this particular car managed to stay on the road is a mystery. Of course, in China, there are always loopholes, but those are usually expensive and take a lot of effort, so it is great to see that someone went trough all that trouble for a Dario Terios.