The R.D:B.X... as in Round Box. Could this be a hint of what will replace the (currently) JDM only Nissan Cube? Japan's youth, who are already way too cool for the current model, let alone the Toyota Bb (Scion XB), should certainly hope so.
Check out that amazing interior, complete with a totally digital dash, in our high-res gallery of live shots below.
click above image to view more high-res pics of the Subaru EXIGA Concept
Subaru has been promising a seven seater for years, but have yet to deliver one to their own home market as the Tribeca isn't sold this side of Pacific. A couple of years ago it was leaning towards a minivan-style MPV, but for this year's show they have chosen to throw a couple of seats in the back of Japan's best selling station wagon, the Legacy, to make the EXIGA Concept.
The designers had a lot of fun inside and out. Enjoy the pics in the gallery below.
Mitsubishi's has given its cute and funky 'i' minicar a sporty makeover with a coupe-like shape and vents on the side to create the i MIEV Sport. Despite being the sports version, it uses the same electric plug-in technology found in the i MIEV, which means two in-wheel motors driving the front wheels, and one motor for the rear. The cab-forward design does make it look like a bubble car, but having navigated Tokyo's streets for the last few days we can totally see it fitting right in.
click above image to view more high-res pics of the 2008 Nissan GT-R
Remember the Suzuki Samurai, the lightweight 4x4 much maligned for being just as likely to topple over as any other Jeep of its day? Well, it's alive and well and being sold throughout the world as the Jimny. The X-Head just might be its future and we can only hope that Suzuki's notoriously tight bean counters do not savage the functional yet oh so cool interior too badly. Who knows, they may even bring it Stateside. Yeah, right.
Check out our original post on the Suzuki X-Head here and view live pics from last week's Tokyo Motor Show in the gallery below.
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 mountains? Park up in your SSF sports-car unit. There's even a speed boat (SSJ) on the cards, not that you'd be able to smell the sea breeze. Both the PIXY and SSC appear to be hermatically sealed and were unbearably hot under the stage lights. Ideal transportation for a post nuclear war world perhaps?
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.
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 a lack of B pillars and A pillars that flow into the headlights may well become Daihatsu trademarks over the coming years.
So balance has been restored to the kei car market then? Nope. Daihatsu has upped the ante by removing the B-pillar from the Tanto (shown at right), creating a mammoth hole through which struggling toddlers can be passed. The ball is back in your court Suzuki.
We like our jobs here at Autoblog, and we hope that shows. Most of our time is spent in our homes and offices bringing you the latest car news as it comes out, and a few times a year we get to fly around the country and around the world photographing the newest machinery the industry has to offer. It's easy to bring you good photos when the subjects are so artfully beautiful, but while some of us know where to point the glassy end of a camera, our photographs won't be hanging in the Louvre. That's where ordinary people and acclaimed artists like Franco Fontana depart.Fontana's photographs have hung in galleries and museums around the world and have appeared in some of the biggest publications, on some of the most popular album covers and as some of the most inspired advertising campaigns. Fortunately for us, Fontana was born in Modena, Italy, which we know as the capital of the supercar. In the mid 80's, Fontana lived up to his birthplace when the Fondation Cartier commissioned him to pay an "Hommage à Ferrari" to mark the company's fortieth anniversary. Twenty years later, Ferrari has gathered some of the best works from the exposition and is displaying them again at the Galleria Ferrari. The show will be on until June 30
Adding fuel to the fire of whether or not racing activities could ever be considered green at all is the fact that the Federation International De Motocyclisme (FIM) will be observing the United Nations Environment Program's World Environment Day, which is on June 5. Considering all of the carbon emissions that will be taking place at Miller Motorsports Park for the upcoming Superbike World Championship race and AMA Superbike race, the planting of six new trees will not overcome the environmental impact of the event. Add in the preceding helicopter rides and stunt-bike events and the tree planting seems awfully insignificant. Still, the FIM has a goal of furthering its involvement with environmental activities, and perhaps its larger role will be in the advancement of green ideals in the minds of the estimated 120 million people who will be watching the race on television.
Click to view more of the upcoming Renault Megane
Renault has been hard at work on the replacement for the current Megane. Following the new Clio, which came out three years ago, the Megane is an important model for the French automaker, designed to face off against volume leaders like the Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit and Ford Focus. French magazine Auto Plus has managed to obtain some undisguised shots of the car, presumably obtained from a Renault employee in exchange for a case of wine, a carton of Gauloise and/or a joke about Americans.
As promised, the new Megane will be substantially more subdued in its styling than the love-it-or-hate-it current model, with its curved upright rear window. The front end borrows heavily from the new Laguna, hinting at a common design language for the company. There's certainly some similarity between the production version and the Megane Coupe Concept unveiled at the Geneva show this year. Although the production Megane will predictably be considerably more conservative than the show car, the three-door appears further differentiated from its five-door stablemate with more sporting lines. See for yourself in the scanned magazine pages in the gallery below. The car looks just about ready to hit the market, so a debut at Renault's home-turf Paris Auto Salon this fall would be a good bet.
Less information is available about the Mazda2 MPS, but expect a turbo'd 1.5-liter mill sending around 170 hp to the front wheels, a sport-tuned suspension and some exterior and interior tweaks to bring it up to Mazda Performance standards. If and when the Mazda2 makes it to the States, we'd expect the Mazdaspeed2 version to follow shortly thereafter.
The 2009 Mercedes CLK has been spotted out on the roads, getting ready for its debut at October's Paris Motor Show. The lines, cladding, and peeking swage lines would appear to indicate that it will indeed look quite a bit like recent renderings. If the flowing glasshouse is to be believed, the car will sport only the merest flick of a trunk.The 2009 Mercedes CLK has been spotted out on the roads, getting ready for its debut at October's Paris Motor Show. The lines, cladding, and peeking swage lines would appear to indicate that it will indeed look quite a bit like recent renderings. If the flowing glasshouse is to be believed, the car will sport only the merest flick of a trunk.
The Ford Ka has been a prime example that the Blue Oval can be successful at making make little cars, even if they kind of look like basketball shoes. After 12 years of service, it's time to shake things up a bit. The next Ka shares mechanicals with the stylish Fiat 500, and after scoping the first unofficial pics from Auto Express, the Ford will be just as cute as its Italian sibling. Designers did manage to heavily differentiate the Ka from the 500, skipping the rounded lines in favor of edgier lines and details that reinforce Ford of Europe's styling language. Think micro-Fiesta, and you've got the picture.
Since it's for European consumption, it'll have no less than three powertrains from the get-go, with a 68 hp 1.2L, a 100 hp 1.4L, and a 1.3L, 50 mpg diesel. Rumor has it that a hotter Ka ST is on its way as well, with 150 hp coming from a turbocharged 1.4L engine. Interior refinement over the outgoing model comes courtesy of better materials and improved ergonomics.
We're still a few months away from the Ka's official unveiling at the Paris Auto Show in September, but we like what we see so far. Besides, if it's good enough for Bond, it'll be good enough for us. The Ka will be produced in Poland and it'll go on sale in Europe by the end of the year.
