In the world of Japanese kei cars, the Daihatsu Copen often gets lost in the shuffle, overshadowed by models like the Honda Beat, Suzuki Cappuccino, and yes, even the Autozam AZ-1.

The adorable two-door convertible can hold its own in kei races, and, more importantly, its highly customizable nature allows owners to go stir crazy on custom projects. There are a myriad of ways that you can customize the Copen, including, in this case, turning to Japanese tuner extraordinaire Liberty Walk with a specific requirement: turn it into a Nissan R35 GT-R.

What’s the Daihatsu Copen?

The Daihatsu Copen is a two-door Japanese kei car that burst into the Japanese car market scene in 2002. It’s now in its second generation, and, not surprisingly, the Copen has enjoyed a successful run, in part due to its sports-car-like looks and peppy-for-its-class performance. No one’s going to mistake the Copen as a legitimate performance car thanks to the 660-cc three-cylinder engine that produces 63 horsepower. .

What kind of tuning opportunities are available to the Daihatsu Copen?

A little perspective might be in order here. First of all, there’s not much you or anyone can do with regards to tuning the Copen’s 660cc three-cylinder engine. Over in Japan, kei cars are subject to strict rules and taxation regarding the size of their engines and the emissions these engines produce. So if you’re looking to add a turbocharged four-cylinder engine into your Copen, you’ll not only have a hard time fitting that engine into the car, but you also run the risk of violating Japan’s laws regarding kei cars.

In other words, stay away from any engine upgrades when it comes to kei cars like the Copen.

But as far as other modifications are concerned, you can go as nuts as you want. You can even ask Liberty Walk to turn your Copen into a Nissan GT-R.

What kind of conversion does Liberty Walk offer for the Daihatsu Copen?

Liberty Walk even added Nissan’s signature V-motion front grille to go with the vented hood and the intake setup, complete with those strips of LEDs. The riveted fender flares and the GT-R-esque rear bumper are all clear callbacks to Godzilla.

Then again, the GT-R boasts the same setup so you might as well call that another form of imitation on Liberty Walk’s part.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn’t it?

In this instance, the answer is a resounding “yes!” Nothing about this conversion suggests that Liberty Walk was going for a look that isn’t taken directly from the Nissan GT-R. It’s as if the tuner — or maybe it was the owner — wanted the Copen to pay homage to the GT-R .

It’s a shame that the conversion ends in the exterior. It would’ve been sick if the tuner managed to find a way to drop the GT-R’s 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-6 into the Copen’s engine bay. Then again, such work requires serious physical changes to the kei car, not to mention all the laws and regulations that Liberty Walk stands to violate if it actually pulled off that conversion.

How much does the conversion cost?

Probably the best part about this conversion is that all of it costs only around $4,000, and that’s after taxes. That’s a cheap price to pay for the results that you’re getting. Mind you, that price is just for the Copen-to-Godzilla conversion kit. The cost of the kei car — around $15,000 to $18,000 — isn’t included in that total. All told, you’re looking at a cost of around $19,000 to $22,000 for this whole bit. It’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to roll around Tokyo or Osaka in a faux Nissan GT-R.

Final Thoughts

I’m geeked about this conversion, but I’m also sad about it. I can’t get enough on how incredible the Copen looks in the GT-R costume. It’s awesome in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, the downside to this project is availability. The Copen isn’t available in the U.S. so you’re going to have to a lot of backflips to get one stateside.