I think the safest assumption here is that Toyota has perfected both mind-reading and time travel, and sent a probe to my 8-year old's brain to get new ideas. That's the only way to explain the unfettered awesomeness of Toyota's new concept car, the Camatte. Unveiled at the Tokyo Toy Show, the three-seater is designed to be driven by a child.
It doesn't need to be driven by a child, but it can. The central driver's seat (like a McLaren F1) can be adjusted to allow for comfortable kid-sized positioning, and, for all you helicopter parents who can't bear to give your kids a bit of independence on the highway, there's a redundant set of parental driving controls in the back.
As if a real car you can drive while a child isn't enough, the Camette concept features bodywork that can be rapidly swapped out, and two very distinct looks, called "Empty" (that may be a bad translation) and "Earth" shown. The turquoise body has a very distinct King Midget look about it, while the tan one takes on a very desert-jeep air. Check out the video to see the swap in action. Both body styles use a canopy-style entry system as well.
The video shows what looks like a rudimentary electric drivetrain up front, which is common for show cars, though the brakes/suspension seem a bit more realized than the usual ultra-basic show car setup.
I remember sitting on my dad's lap as a little boy, steering his '68 Beetle, and thinking this was the Best Fucking Thing in the world. Because it was a real (well, as real as a Beetle) car, it was way more exciting than any kid-scaled car I'd driven. I'm sure modern kids would feel the same way in something like this, though I suspect modern litigious society won't let something like this actually exist.
Even if it can't exist as a kid-piloted car, I would absolutely buy a Toyota that looked like this. If Toyota would put that King Midget-looking body on pretty much any platform they have now, I'd get in line. I'd like to think I'm not the only one.
(Thanks, Integrity Exports!)