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Tokyo Motor Show 2013: Cars! Crowds! Comely models! 【Photos】

Casey Baseel Nov 25, 2013
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Like a migratory bird made of carbon fiber and engine blocks, every two years the Tokyo Motor Show returns to give us all a glimpse at automakers’ visions of the future. RocketNews24 visited this year’s event, and we’re here to share with you our impressions and photos of the massive crowds, newest concept cars, and hottest current models (both automotive and female).

We arrived at the show’s venue, Tokyo Big Sight, shortly after the doors opened in the morning, hoping to beat the crowds. This is when we learned a very important lesson about the Tokyo Motor Show.

You…

…cannot…

…beat the crowds.

Still, we fought through the masses to get the shots and stories we needed. Why? Because we love our readers (also, we love cars… and the models, if we’re being honest).

Nissan had one of the most dramatically-styled concepts at the show with its Blade Glider.

The company claims the triangular layout of the car’s three seats, with the driver front and center, combined with the open top, give the sensation of riding on the wind. Like many other manufacturers, Nissan was looking to talk up its environmental awareness, and boasted that the Blade Glider is a zero-emission vehicle.

On the opposite end of the design spectrum, there was Nissan’s retro-styled IDx.

With its boxy greenhouse, the IDx evokes the Datsun 510 of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The 510 was a popular base car for amateur racers, so naturally Nissan had a racing version of the IDx on display.

Also appealing to racing fans, Subaru attracted a crowd with a competition-spec version of its BR-Z sports coupe, used in the Super GT racing series.

We’d wager money that Subaru’s Viziv Evolution concept will keep its all-wheel drive should it make it into production, while losing its flashy doors. How much of its hybrid drivetrain, with a gasoline engine plus three electric motors (one in the front, two in the rear) will make it into the final car is still anybody’s guess, however.

The packaging for the carmaker’s Levorg is essentially finalized, with the turbo-charged touring wagon set to hit dealers next spring.

At almost every iteration of the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota shows its new idea of how people movers of the future will look. This year, it was the pod-like FV2, accompanied by a woman who looked like she just stepped out of The Matrix.

If all of that plastic and carbon seems too cold and technological, maybe you’d prefer a Corolla covered in comfy denim?

The company’s hydrogen-powered FCV concept is so environmentally-friendly that it apparently is endorsed by penguins.

In describing its LPG-hybrid concept JPN Taxi, Toyota says it wants to create an iconic taxi for Japan, one which will leave as strong an impression on visitors to the country as the cabs of London or New York do for those who travel there.

For those who prefer to drive themselves, however, Toyota brought a convertible concept of its hit GT-86 rear-drive sports car (known as the FR-S in North America).

Honda was also showing off its sporty side with the S660, a 660 cc mid-engined follow-up to the similar Beat it sold from 1991 through 1996.

A concept for the long-rumored successor to the company’s top of the line NSX was also at the show, exciting and teasing fans who have been waiting patiently since production of the previous NSX ended in 2005.

We also got to see Honda’s UNI-CUB in action with our own eyes.

Volkswagen is ready for the smooth, well-maintained highways of a utopian future with the XLT concept.

Or the ruined, gravelly roads of a dystopian one, with its WRC rally car.

Although Isuzu’s passenger car business has been largely phased out, the manufacturer did have the MU-X concept.

And if you’re modeling next to a truck from another era, you may as well dress the part.

Jaguar felt its new F-Type coupe was attractive enough to make do without booth girls.

Renault was similarly confident in its Dezir concept.

As was Kawasaki, with its crazy three-wheeled J concept, with two front wheels that the rider manipulates by pressing the separate handle for each forward or pulling it back.

On the other hand, if your product is something less exciting, like instrument panels, you need all the cute models you can get.

Ditto if you’re selling spark plugs.

Or tires.

▼ Bridgestone gets extra points for having their models’ dresses look like they’re made from tires.

Daihatsu is looking to make liquid fuel cell-powered transportation practical with its FC deck concept, although we’re more curious about how drivers are supposed to keep cargo from sliding off the back of the truck.

The Deca Deca concept features suicide doors, the ability to fold every seat flush into the floor, and even an interior rack for your surfboard.

The Daihatsu booth also displayed two slightly differing versions of the Kopen, a sporty compact concept which picks up the mantle left by the three-cylinder Copen which was discontinued in 2012.

The color-coded tachometer built into the steering wheel is a nice touch.

Not far from the Kopen was the booth for Suzuki, a company whose CEO recently remarked that the poor people who buy his company’s super-compacts have no need for sports cars. That’s not to say Suzuki wasn’t having any fun, though, as it showed the interesting Crosshiker and open-air X-Lander concepts.

At first we felt guilty for snickering at a concept car called Hustler. We felt justified after we noticed you can convert the back into a tent, and read the pamphlet where Suzuki refers to it as “The New Player.”

▼ Haters ‘gonna hate.

It’s clear that Suzuki saves its real exuberance for its motorcycles, such as the electric Extrigger concept.

One demographic that can afford to splurge on style is Lexus buyers, for whom the hybrid rear-drive RC 300H coupe was created.

And for drivers who require even more road presence, there’s the LF-NX, which wins our award for most intimidating front fascia.

Hyundai showed up to talk with visitors about buses, which like all subjects become infinitely more interesting when you stick an attractive young woman in front.

Finally, Mini tried to have a little something for everybody, with booth babes…

…booth dudes…

…and even a DJ, mixing tracks to go along with the eye-candy.

Having finally completed our circuit of the show, with our feet aching (there’s a surprisingly large amount of walking involved with going to the Tokyo Motor Show), we headed for the exits. And while we may have taken the train home, I think we were all secretly making engine noises in our heads.

Photos: RocketNews24