Unlike some other auto shows, the Tokyo Motor Show is a magical place of concept car wonder. So far this year, it’s shown us multiple new models and concepts that are to die for. Let’s take a moment to look back at the most bizarre cars that Tokyo has ever seen.
10.) Toyota Avalon Concept
It appears that with the 1991 Toyota Avalon Concept, Toyota’s designers had set out to make the perfect egg-shaped roadster/sedan thing. The smooth lines on the front end slightly resemble a second-gen MR2, but the rest of the body comes completely out of the blue. And it definitely does not resemble the four-door, full-sized sedan that Toyota had later released in 1994 under the same name.
Suggested By: The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell/Toyota via Flickr
9.) Toyota RV-2
It’s like a Ferrari Breadvan, an early Lotus Esprit, and my uncle’s Dodge Ram conversion van all had a child! The RV-2 was Toyota’s idea for a “practical” weekend getaway car, with just enough room in the back for sleeping. Or uh, as Penthouse discovered, some NSFW activities.
Suggested By: Brian, The Life of, Photo Credit: Toyota via Starling Travel
8.) Isuzu Como F1
The Isuzu Como was Isuzu’s attempt at an extreme super pickup truck. It had scissor doors and an F1-sourced 3.5 liter V8 motor that had potential to put out around 640 horsepower. Pretty neat, but what’s the point of a pickup truck if you’re just going to stuff an engine in the bed?
Reminds me of that Corvette prototype that pops up every once in awhile.
Suggested By: evoCS, Photo Credit: Isuzu via Jalopnik
7.) Nissan Land Glider
Look at all the lean! The Nissan Land Glider might look cool and have potential to deliver an exciting and connected-feeling drive, but it wasn’t exactly the most practical of ideas. Because of the amount of new technology a car like this would require to be reliable and useful, the design is pretty much out of question. At least for now.
Suggested By: Brian, The Life of, Photo Credit: Nissan via Jalopnik
6.) Isuzu Nagisa
It’s the daily driver that you could also take fishing! What more could you want from a compact Japanese coupe? It’s a car, that’s also a boat!
Suggested By: Doctor-G-and-the-wagen, Photo Credit: Isuzu/Diseno-Art via Jalopnik
5.) Honda Unibox
The Honda Unibox was the super high-tech, ultra-customizable, tall Japanese boxy-like van that never really got the attention that it deserved. The Unibox had a front-pedestrian airbag system, similar to the technologies that have recently been implemented in Volvos and Land Rovers, also navigation-linked headlights for improved night driving, a radar and camera-based collision prevention system, and several other technologies that were way ahead of its time.
Suggested By: Fl1ngstam, Photo Credit: Honda via carstyling.ru
4.) The Eliica
The Eliica is the four-person, full electric, super-fast, record-attempting car that the world barely knew. Each of the eight wheels had its own electric motor! Between the two working prototypes, these cars were able to sustain a full electric range of up to 200 miles, a 0-60 time of under four seconds, and a top-speed of about 230 MPH.
If this was in development over ten years ago, where’s all that fancy technology now? I want an eight-wheeled, super fast, minivan wagon thing! Tesla, I hope your guys are on something like this.
Suggested By: INTERROBANG, Photo Credit: Anetode via Wikipedia
3.) Honda Fuya-Jo
The Fuya-Jo is no plain-old boxy Japanese concept van, it’s a boxy Japanese concept van designed for partying! Instead of standing up over an EDM DJ booth at some grotesque nightclub, you could stand over a set of DJ-like automotive controls and pump those trap beats from the comfort of your own car!
It’s like that silly tour, party coach bus that drives around New York City all the time. Just hopefully in the Fuya-Jo, you wouldn’t look like such an awfully out-of-place tourist.
Suggested By: Margin Of Error, Photo Credit: linternaute.com via Jalopnik
2.) Nissan Pivo II
The ultimate city car. The Nissan Pivo concept was a three-seater with a swiveling cabin, designed to make living with a car in an urban environment a bit less hectic. Why turn the car around when you could just change wheel direction and be on your way? Also, there’s a that cute little head—yes, a head—on the dash. Nissan designed that guy to be able to read the emotions of the driver, and somehow attempt to communicate by facial expressions. Yeah, I don’t know either.
I wonder if it would cause nausea after a while. Maybe it could have an amusement park mode where it pretended to be one of those spinning tea cup, that might be fun for the youths!
Suggested By: Boxer_4, Photo Credit: Mytho88 via Wikipedia
1.) Toyota FV2
Toyota’s hopes with the FV2 was to create a car-like thing that could be either driven or rode, and controlled by the operator’s body moments. The FV2 could be driven either a fully reclined position, or with the pilot standing up.
For some reason, I feel like that wouldn’t be such a great idea. What if the driver gets startled by an insect in the cabin? Does the car follow their movements and potentially lose control? Also, uh, I know it’s a concept, but the lack of safety equipment shown with the FV2 is quite disconcerting.
Suggested By: BoxerFanatic, Photo Credit: Toyota
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Top Photo Credit: Toyota UK via YouTube