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Honda NSX to spearhead RWD model lineup
Filed under: Concept Cars, Sports/GTs, Tokyo Motor Show, Supercars, Acura, Honda 
Click above for a gallery of the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept.
By most accounts, Honda originally planned to show off the next generation NSX to the seething throngs at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. But due to the less-than-positive reception the Advanced Sports Car concept garnered at the Detroit show, Honda's designers headed back to the drawing board to redesign the front clip housing the 550 hp, 4.5-liter V10.
Now, Autocar has gotten word from a Honda insider that the NSX is bound for the 2009 Tokyo show,...
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Daihatsu teams up with Provision to create 3D holographic dash
Filed under: Concept Cars, Gadgets, Safety, Tokyo Motor Show 
Forget about light-emitting diode (LED) or liquid crystal display (LCD) dashboards. According to Daihatsu, the next hot ticket will be 3D holographic technology. Daihatsu teamed up with Provision Interactive Technologies to implement a 3D dashboard for their latest concept car which debuted at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show. Attendees were so impressed with the technology, that Provision raced to file a new patent for the product they call "HLXX." The HLXX technology utilizes a traditional 2D flat screen dashboard with a second 3D holographic screen. During normal operation, the driver views instrument gauges on the 2D monitor. If warnings or...
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Honda set to go retro in '09 with CB1100F?
Filed under: Time Warp, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show, Motorcycles 
Click the pic above for more high-res images.
Retro is fast becoming an accepted design theme industry-wide with vehicles such as the New Beetle, Mini Cooper and Fiat 500 shining as examples of the genre. The same can be said of motorcycles, with such designs as the Ducati SportClassic range as well as half of Triumph's line acting as flag-bearers. Harley could be grouped into that category as well, although they've never really changed since... well, the beginning of time. Anyway, Honda is considering capitalizing on the market trend with a new design inspired by the ground-breaking CB's...
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Autoblog Podcast #81
Filed under: LA Auto Show, Podcasts, SEMA, Coupes, Hybrids/Alternative, Trucks/Pickups, Green, Tokyo Motor Show, Ford, GM, Honda, Pontiac, Toyota  Now here's something worth giving thanks over. The podcast makes its return in time for you to load it on your iPod for the drive over the river and through the woods. We've been away at shows, so of course we do some recapping of whatever highlights struck our fancy at Tokyo, SEMA, and LA. We start Autoblog Podcast episode #81 by discussing pickups, though. New spy shots of the 2009...
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What else is new? Lexus "struggling" to develop LF-A supercar
Filed under: Tokyo Motor Show, Supercars 
Toyota's showing in Tokyo was rife with disappointments, none more so than what was over at the Lexus booth. Beyond its LF-Xh hybrid crossover, rumor had it that a revised version of the LF-A supercar would make an appearance. No such luck. Instead, the same show car we've seen over the last year stood alone, longing for refinement.
According to Winding Road's Japan correspondent, the reason for the dismal showing was a shakeup on the engineering side of Lexus' new halo. A number of "key engineers" have apparently been yanked off the project to work on other programs within Toyota, and that,...
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Tokyo Motor Show: Suzuki Palette vs. Daihatsu Tanto
Filed under: Economy, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show, Suzuki The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image to view just how much legroom this truly mini vans have Pity poor Suzuki. Japan's vast market for mini vehicles has been dominated by the company since the creation of kei cars in the '50s, but ever since the turn of the millennium, Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has been taking some serious chunks out of Suzuki's market share. The final straw came at the 2005...
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Tokyo Motor Show: Daihatsu HSC is one slippery little sucker
Filed under: Concept Cars, Green, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image for more live pics of the Daihatsu HSC Concept
We missed the Daihatsu HSC at Frankfurt somehow, but stumbled across the little concept in Tokyo. Its "catamaran-like underbody", a CD value of 0.28, and idling stop function coupled to an advanced CVT all adds up to 60 mpg. Check out those mirrors and the funky interior, too. Looking around the stand here in Tokyo, it strikes us that...
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Tokyo Motor Show: Suzuki Pixy & SSC
Filed under: Concept Cars, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show, Suzuki The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
There's more than a hint of Toyota's PM, i-Swing and i-REAL series about this concept. But where Toyota admits that the driver may occasionally want to get out of the pod, Suzuki sees no reason for such extravagant use of your legs when operating the PIXY. Leaving the city for a blast down the highway? Just drive your PIXY in to your SSC mothership. Want to go for a thrash though the...
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Tokyo Motor Show: Nissan Pivo2
Filed under: Concept Cars, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
Click above image to view more live pics of the crab-like Pivo2 from Nissan
After a few days of regurgitating the same old story to the world's press, company PR men are apt to let little gems slip as fatigue and boredom set in. This year's classic comes from a Nissan PR man, who for the sake of his career, shall remain nameless. The Pivo 2, replete with an R2D2 like co-pilot...
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Tokyo Motor Show: Suzuki Kizashi 2
Filed under: Concept Cars, Japan, Tokyo Motor Show, Suzuki The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image for more live shots of the Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept
Following the debut of the first Kizashi concept in Frankfurt, the folks at Suzuki's design studios have butched up the concept even more. Check out the Ben Hur/James Bond tire-chewing alloys. Though there may be plans afoot for the Kizashi to see production, those wheels are not included among them.
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