The most striking car revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show didn't come from Honda or Toyota but from an Italian automaker you may never have heard of.
The company, Iso Rivolta, made very handsome coupes with Corvette engines during the 1950s and '60s, an era that saw the creation of many of Italy's most famous automobiles.
The concept car from the now-revived Iso Rivolta looks edgier than the brand's rather understated classics but it sticks to tradition in terms of power. It has a 997-horsepower modified Corvette V8 engine and a 10-speed transmission.
Designed by the Italian auto design firm Zagato, the Iso Rivolta Vision Gran Turismo will be available to drive in the video game Gran Turismo Sport on the Sony PlayStation 4. As many as five of these cars will be produced in real life for actual customers. There is no word yet on how much each one will cost. But it will, no doubt, be far cheaper to drive one in the video game.
Among more familiar automakers, Toyota (TM) revealed the Fine Comfort Ride concept. Yes. That's its actual name. The van-shaped vehicle envisions a hydrogen fuel cell-powered luxury car with an emphasis on roominess over slick styling. The car's body tapers slightly toward the rear for better aerodynamics while maximizing passenger space. Like all fuel cell vehicles, it emits only water vapor as exhaust.
Nissan's IMx concept looks like a boxier version of the Nissan (NSANF) Murano crossover. It is, according to Nissan, a fully autonomous vehicle with entertainment systems controlled by hand and eye movements. It's electrically driven with separate motors for the front and back wheels. (As with most concept vehicles, it's unclear how much, if any, of this technology actually exists in the car.)
With little in the way of technological pretensions, Mazda's Vision Coupe concept is purely a design exercise. It shows what Mazda's designers are working on for future Mazda cars. It's supposed to be a more refined interpretation of Japanese design esthetics, Mazda (MZDAF) says. The body has what Mazda calls a "one motion" shape implying speed and grace.
If you live in America, the Suzuki car you probably remember best was the old Samurai SUV. It was a tiny Jeep competitor. (Suzuki dropped out of the U.S. market five years ago.) The Suzuki e-Survivor concept is, essentially, a modern electric Samurai. Each wheel is powered by its own electric motor.
Honda's Sports EV concept is a follow-up to the Urban EV concept unveiled at last month's Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. Where the Urban EV had a boxy body reminiscent of an early Civic, the Sports EV has a lower, sleeker and more aggressive look.
It's designed to be fun to drive even though it does have artificial intelligence technology, Honda (HMC) says.
