Sunu Babu recently shared  this with other enthusiasts.

After working in the IT industry for 11 years, I was waiting for a unique 4-wheeler which I could restore, when I found a Daihatsu Wildcat TAFT F20. The vintage beauty was abandoned in the corner of a workshop at Aluva market. I wanted to wake this sleeping beauty and bring her back to life.

The Wildcat was a victim of not one, but two floods and was untouched for 9 years. It was completely rusted, without a carburetor, distributor, cylinder head, radiator, dashboard, seats and windshield glass - just a piece of scrap metal. It was owned by Jijo Joseph, a vintage car collector based at Aluva and was initially imported from Dubai. It is a very rare and unique vehicle, probably the only one in India.

I started with restoring the 12R engine and hence, dismantled everything. Ordered parts and engine rebuilding kit from Japan and Indonesia and started assembling everything from the scratch. The 1.6-litre petrol engine fired up on the first attempt itself.

The auto body mechanics struggled with the scrap car since they hadn’t had another vehicle like it before to work on. But, I appreciate their patience to build the body and the outcome. I love the design of pick-ups, so made the Wildcat cabin closed making the car a two-seater. When it was ready for painting, the first thing which came to my mind was the yellow-white combination of the Toyota FJ40. The glossy yellow stands out in a crowd with pearl white on the roof and steel rims. Some of the Wildcat’s unique features are:

It took 2 years to build this beast, but it was worth spending time on. Giving life back to something which was abandoned made me very happy!

Technical specifications of the Daihatsu Wildcat TAFT F20:

Technical specs of the engine:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Keep yourself tuned in to the Indian automotive scene via Twitter, Youtube or RSS feeds.