Daihatsu Bee: which version to buy and why
There is one Daihatsu Bee to choose. The catalogue lists 1 generation (1951–1952), Coupe only, and 1 version: 0.5 MT. There is no second engine, no second gearbox, no restyle, and no later generation against which to trade power, weight, or speed.
There is one Daihatsu Bee to choose. The catalogue lists 1 generation (1951–1952), Coupe only, and 1 version: 0.5 MT. There is no second engine, no second gearbox, no restyle, and no later generation against which to trade power, weight, or speed. The buying question is therefore not “which Bee,” but whether 0.5 MT itself matches what the numbers describe: 18 hp (13 kW), 540 cm³ Gasoline, 2 cylinders Opposite, engine Rear, Manual with 3 gears, RWD, top speed 78, kerb weight 960. Torque, 0–100, fuel use, tank, clearance, wheels, and gross weight are not measured.
Specs that decide the only version: 0.5 MT
0.5 MT is the whole range. Years on the version card match the generation: 1951-01-01 to 1952-12-31. Body is Coupe. Fuel is Gasoline. Cylinders are 2, layout Opposite. Boost is not measured. Gearbox is Manual, 3 speeds. Drive is RWD. Engine placement is Rear. Induction is Carburetor.
Power density from the given figures: 18 / 0.54 = 33.3 hp per litre (using 540 cm³ as 0.54 L). Mass per horsepower: 960 / 18 = 53.3 kg per hp. Kilowatts sit at 13 against 18 hp; that pair is the only power pair in the file. Peak power rpm is not measured. Peak torque and torque rpm are not measured, so a “how much extra torque you buy” comparison cannot be made inside this model.
Because there is only 1 version, arithmetic between versions is empty: the gap in horsepower is 0, the gap in displacement is 0, the gap in kerb weight is 0, the gap in top speed is 0. What extra money cannot buy, on this catalogue, is another Bee spec. It cannot buy a fourth gear, a second fuel type, a different drive, or a later generation.
Generations: what changed, and what did not
1 generation ran 1951-01-01–1952-12-31, body Coupe, 1 version. There is no 2nd generation in the data, so nothing “changed” at a generation boundary: no extra hp, no lighter kerb, no higher top speed, no new gearbox count.
Inside 1 generation there is also no restyle listed as a separate object. Treating a restyle as another generation would invent an 11th-style duplicate; here it would invent a second Bee that the numbers do not contain. The generation and 0.5 MT share the same start and stop dates, so the production window you buy is two calendar years, not a sequence of facelifts.
What did not change, because there was nothing later to change it: Coupe stayed Coupe, Gasoline stayed Gasoline, Manual 3 stayed Manual 3, RWD stayed RWD, Rear engine stayed Rear, Opposite 2 stayed Opposite 2, drum brakes stayed drum, independent spring stayed independent spring.
Engine, gearbox, drive: the 0.5 MT table
| Version | hp | Nm | Displacement | Fuel | Cylinders | Layout | Boost | Gearbox | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 MT | 18 | not measured | 540 | Gasoline | 2 | Opposite | not measured | Manual (3) | RWD |
Read the row as a buying filter, not as a family of options. If you need more than 18 hp, 0.5 MT does not offer a higher-output twin under the same name. If you need a figure in Nm, it is not measured — absence here is not “this engine has no torque,” it is “this catalogue does not record it.” If you need automatic, the gearbox label is Manual, not another type. If you need more than 3 speeds, the count is 3. If you need a drive other than RWD, the label is RWD. If you need a layout other than Opposite with 2 cylinders, that is the only cylinder pair given.
Engine Rear plus RWD is the driveline you actually buy with 0.5 MT. Boost not measured means you cannot score turbo vs naturally aspirated from this file. Valves per cylinder not measured. Compression not measured. Bore and stroke not measured. Fuel grade not measured. None of those missing cells can be used to rank a second Bee, because a second Bee is not in the data.
Performance, mpg, and what the extra money cannot buy
Top speed for 0.5 MT is 78. 0–100 is not measured. City, highway, and combined consumption are not measured. CO₂ is not measured. Eco class is not measured.
So the performance ranking inside Daihatsu Bee is a ranking of one: 78 is both the fastest and the slowest figure in the table. There is no later generation that adds km/h, and no second 0.5 MT with a different top speed to split by power (the Land Cruiser-style case of two identical names at 299 vs 309 hp does not occur here).
Power-to-weight from the measured pair: 18 hp on 960 kg is 53.3 kg/hp. Inverting that: 18 / 960 = 0.01875 hp per kg. Displacement-to-speed is not a second independent choice; 540 cm³ and 78 belong to the same 0.5 MT. Litres from 540 cm³: 0.54 L. Speed per litre, if you use only these two numbers: 78 / 0.54 ≈ 144.4 (top speed divided by litres). That ratio does not describe a rival version; it only describes this one.
Mpg and l/100 km cannot be compared across versions because every consumption field is not measured. Do not read a blank mpg cell as “this car uses no fuel.” Gasoline is the fuel type; the amount used is not measured. Tank size is not measured, so range from tank × consumption cannot be calculated.
0–100 not measured means a “which Bee is quicker to 100” answer is not available. The only timed-adjacent number you can use in a purchase argument is top speed 78.
Dimensions, weight, and chassis numbers that stay the same
Kerb weight 960. Gross weight not measured, so payload as (gross − kerb) is not measured. Ground clearance not measured. Tank not measured. Wheel sizes not measured.
Front suspension: Independent, spring. Rear suspension: Independent, spring. Front brakes: Drum. Rear brakes: Drum. Those four labels do not split by version, because there is only 0.5 MT. You cannot pay more inside this model for a different brake type or a different suspension type; the catalogue does not list a second chassis pack.
Weight per litre of displacement: 960 / 0.54 ≈ 1778 kg per litre. That is a property of 0.5 MT, not a delta versus another Bee. If a later generation had existed with a different kerb, the difference would be arithmetic on two kerb figures; here the difference is 0.
Which version to choose
Choose 0.5 MT if the catalogue’s measured set is the set you want: Coupe, years 1951–1952, Gasoline 540 cm³, 18 hp / 13 kW, 2 cylinders Opposite, engine Rear, Carburetor, Manual 3, RWD, top speed 78, kerb 960, independent spring front and rear, drum brakes front and rear.
Do not choose a second Daihatsu Bee version from this file — it is not there. Do not choose a later generation — pokoleniy is 1. Do not choose a restyle as if it were another generation. Do not split two 0.5 MT rows by horsepower: there is one 0.5 MT at 18 hp, not two names that need 18 vs another figure.
What the numbers rule out, without inventing prices (prices are not in the data):
- More than 18 hp: not offered.
- More than 540 cm³: not offered.
- A fuel label other than Gasoline: not offered.
- Cylinders other than 2 or layout other than Opposite: not offered.
- Gearbox other than Manual or more than 3 gears: not offered.
- Drive other than RWD: not offered.
- Top speed other than 78: not offered.
- Kerb other than 960: not offered.
- A measured 0–100, mpg, tank, clearance, wheels, gross weight, Nm, boost, or eco class: those are not measured, so they cannot be the reason to pick one Bee over another.
Power per litre 33.3 hp/L and mass 53.3 kg/hp are the two derived scores you can actually compute. They describe 0.5 MT only. The extra money, if any, does not buy a second column in this table; it would buy the same 0.5 MT again.
Reliability and problems: what this catalogue does and does not measure
This file does not list failure rates, recalls, or common problems. Reliability is therefore not measured here. Do not treat a missing problems section as proof that 0.5 MT has none.
What is measured and can still matter when you inspect a car that matches 0.5 MT: Carburetor (not a second injection type), Drum / Drum, Manual 3, Rear engine, RWD, production ending 1952-12-31. Those are identifiers for the only version, not a ranking of several.
Summary for a buyer who already knows the model
Daihatsu Bee has 1 generation, Coupe, 1 version 0.5 MT (1951–1952). Buy 0.5 MT because it is the only row: 18 hp, 13 kW, 540 Gasoline, 2 Opposite, Rear, Manual 3, RWD, 78 top speed, 960 kg. Torque, 0–100, mpg, tank, clearance, wheels, gross weight, boost, and eco class are not measured. There is no second version to compare, so power gaps, weight gaps, and generation-to-generation deltas are all 0.