Dacia does not build many cars like the Dacia D33: a 4-door sedan with Hyundai, built from 1997 when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Its designer of record is I.DE.A Institute. Production ran to 1 cars.
Where it came from
The Dacia D33 is a prototype car built in a maximum of two units (a 1:1 scale mock-up and a functional prototype) by Romanian automaker Dacia in 1997. According to the company's director, Constantin Stroe, the car was intended to be completely modern and reasonably priced for a new vehicle. No further details were provided, as the development of the model was abandoned once the factory was taken over by Renault.
Under the skin
Under the skin sits Hyundai. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Where it sits in Dacia's history is not in doubt: the Dacia Nova came before it; the Dacia SupeRNova followed it. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Toyota Prius, the Subaru Forester, the Alfa Romeo 156. Nearby in the Dacia catalogue sit the Dacia 1100 and the Dacia 1210.