What can we say? We’ve known the Cozy Coupe for years, but now it’s gotten a total makeover.
In the past, the Cozy Coupe was only offered in one color scheme, the very familiar two-tone yellow over red. This ubiquitous look was seen over and over again, found in every suburban neighborhood, as well as city streets.
This new model, the Cozy Coupe II is offered in 3 different schemes, along with a police version and a pickup truck model. More about those in a minute.
Now we can all say it’s finally here. The Cozy Coupe II represents many years in development and refinement and it clearly shows.
The exterior represents a lot of work in the aerodynamics chamber. The outgoing model had a kind of laid back, straight upright look and feel, almost cartoonish-like. It reminds me of the car that George Jetson drove in the filming of The Jetson’s. The new model is more of a “cab-forward” design, with the wheels pushed to the corners for more interior space and better handling. Wheelbase has been stretched a few extra inches. The extra inches doesn’t seem like much, but can really be felt in the handling. We drove on straight flat driveways, as well as twisty driveways. The result is the same: no matter what the road brings, the CC2 can handle it.
The interior is equally refined over the previous version. The driver’s information center now neatly integrates into the dashboard, unlike the original. The original Cozy Coupe had a pod for the gauges, which was just tacked on top of the dashboard, kind of like an afterthought. Now, the gauges are fully integrated into the dash, and present much more information as well.
The police version has a high output engine with a separate electrical system just for the lights. The manufacturer touts a firmer suspension, and revised steering, although we couldn’t detect any differences in ride or handling.
The pickup truck version, although built on the same chassis, represents a totally new way to haul cargo. With the style-side bed, you can travel in style while hauling your gear. In the Cozy Coupe, the trunk space is almost non-existant, and most people that need to haul cargo ended up with the trailer. Not any more! The pickup has tons of cargo space with a dropdown tailgate for easy loading. Once loaded, the off-road tires help distribute the load better than the standard tires.
New this year is the 30th anniversary edition, which is basically a facelift of the existing CC2. The main exterior change is the repositioning of the lights and changes to the grill. The lights have been moved up higher and are front and center above the grill and now look like eyes. The higher placement ensures that the light is cast further down the road for better visibility. Below the lights are smaller lights, presumably fog lights, now as standard equipment.
Speaking of the grill, it is now more pronounced and more curved, and actually looks kind of like a smile. Nice touch. This refreshed front is sure to make everyone smile.
Other changes include a removable floor board, which helps keep the feet up and out of the way. A very nice feature. And did I mention cupholders? What’s any new vehicle nowadays without more cupholders? This one’s got em. Two of them to be exact. It looks like they could learn some ergonomics from Honda or Toyota though, as these cupholders are very hard to reach from the drivers seat. They also seem to take up most of the trunk space, which is unfortunate.
Overall, the changes over the years have kept the Cozy Coupe (and its siblings) at the top of its class. No wonder they are outselling the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord! And used ones hold their value quite well, making any Cozy Coupe purchase a good investment.