At $5,000, Is This Rare 1990 Daihatsu Rocky a Total Knockout of a Deal?

Like the Suzuki Samurai before it, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Daihatsu Rocky was an entry into the 1980s American small SUV market. These days the Suzuki is coveted while the Rocky is almost forgotten. Let’s see if its price might make this one worth remembering.

This year — 2023 — marks the 100th birthday of Triumph’s first car, the 10/20. It’s also just a year shy of 40 years since the company produced its last-ever car, a re-badged Honda Ballade, known as the Acclaim. Even before that, Triumph left the States, and the 1980 Triumph TR8 we looked at yesterday represented the marque’s swan song here. Rare, well-kitted, and seemingly in need of little, our TR8 struggled in both comments and the vote to support its $14,900 asking. Ultimately, that fell in a 56 percent No Dice loss, closing yet another chapter on the ill-fated British brand.

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So, on to today’s puzzle; was the 1990 Daihatsu Rocky named for the Sylvester Stallone movie character or for the bosom buddy of the cartoon moose, Bullwinkle? I’d like to think the latter.

Whatever the inspiration, the little Jeep-let was one of two vehicles that marked Daihatsu’s debut in the U.S. auto market in 1988. The other was a car called the Charade, an odd choice considering that Merriam-Webster says that could mean an “empty or deceptive act or pretense.” Perhaps that was not the best foot forward for an unknown car company. Daihatsu struggled for five years with just the two models until finally giving up on U.S. sales in 1992.

Daihatsu delivered just under 7,500 Rockys to America during that brief stint. All, like this blue and silver edition, were two-door 4x4s with a removable roof panel and rear cap. The glass on the curbside-opening rear door is also removable, giving the Rocky a completely open rear half. Not to fear, however, there is an awkwardly-placed roll-over bar at the back to keep passengers safe in the event of unplanned acrobatic maneuvers.

That’s even less of a problem on this Rocky since there is no rear seat. The front buckets are in place but do look a bit rough, with the driver’s side wearing an ill-fitting cover and the passenger side missing its headrest. The rest of the interior shows its age with a bit of broken plastic marring the dash and the floor covering looking like it came out of a kennel. None of that will matter, though, since there’s an inclinometer on the top of the dash and that’s one of the coolest bits of kit imaginable.