The Oddest Concept Cars Of The Tokyo Motor Show

If vans have a reputation for being land yachts, why not make one into a literal rolling boat for the wealthy? The Alphard Hercule from Toyota Auto Body (a Toyota subsidiary) offers a yacht-rock take on the family hauler. From the cowcatcher grille to the folding canvas roof to the wraparound bench seats and crystal champagne flutes, the Hercule comes off as a minivan for Lex Luthor’s kids.

Two years ago, Honda showed off the “Omni Traction Drive,” a wheel with special bands that could allow a vehicle to move sideways. The Honda Wander Stand envisions how Honda could put such an idea to use in the cramped alleys of Tokyo, with a two-seat self-driving vehicle that can scamper diagonally and park itself in tiny corners.

Several new cars have vanes that open or close at speed to improve aerodynamics, but what if a car could change its entire shape? Hence the Flesby, a project by Toyota satellite supplier Toyota Gosei that features several green air bags in place of bodywork. Depending on the driving situation, the bags change shape to look sportier or sleeker, like a Transformer made of Play-Doh.

A quarter of Japan’s population is 65 or older, and the Tokyo show had a whole section devoted to personal scooters and powered wheelchairs. The Daihatsu Norioriwas designed to haul all those mobility solutions around, thanks to huge side doors, a sliding ramp, minimal ground clearance and self-driving features.

“Noriori” is Japanese for “getting on and off.” Inside the van-let, the seats fold away so that wheelchairs can be parked in place.

No automaker has ever recaptured the magic of the original Volkswagen bus, but the Suzuki Air Triser comes close. With a two-tone paint and airy cabin that can be reconfigured, the Air Triser was one of the few concepts that had some grounding in reality.

When parked, the seats of the Air Triser can be folded several ways, like this near-camper effect.

All of the autonomous driving vehicles unveiled by automakers in Tokyo lacked two things: menace, and a robot body. Into that gap rushed Yamaha, which revealed the Motobot, a robot it says it’s developing to ride any given sport bike up to 124 mph on a racetrack. No word on when automakers would give their self-driving car systems the power to feel jealous.

Every auto show has a few obsessive answers to the question of “how do we get today’s tech-obsessed youth interested in cars?” Nissan’s exploration was called the Teatro For Dayz, and imagines a world where “share natives” expect to post every moment to social media

The Teatro For Dayz uses several projectors to cover the interior of the vehicle in video, patterns and incoming Snapchats. Of course, all of this overwhelms the actual act of driving, which the car takes care of on its own. Given today’s trends, Nissan may have a point.

Of all the concepts at the Tokyo show, the Kikai was the sole representative of the spirit of hot-rodding. In some angles it looked like a moon buggy, in others there were hints of Ford hi-boy roadsters. While other concepts overflowed with tech, the Kikai doesn’t even have a radio.

Toyota said the Kikai was designed to show off the engineering usually hidden by bodywork. It seats three with the driver in the center—a move that was especially refreshing at this Tokyo show. The next Tokyo show two years from now will have even more robotic, high-tech creations; one only hopes there’s still room for the machines meant to make driving exciting.

What do you get when you mash together a Smart car with a Subaru Baja? You get the pint-sized Mighty Deck. Narrower and shorter than a ForTwo, it features a rear deck that can be raised, exposing a hidden compartment underneath.