2005 Tokyo Motor Show, Part IV

TCC's Auto Show Index by TCC Team (10/3/2005)
Our coverage of the world's major auto shows, year to year.

2005 Tokyo Motor Show Index by TCC Team (10/18/2005)

 

 

Lexus LF-Sh

 

By all official accounts, the Lexus sedan shown on the stands at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show is a concept. But with its softer, prettier shape sharing so much in common with the new IS and GS sedans, it’s hard to imagine the LF-Sh concept being anything but a production-ready version of the next LS sedan. Beneath its comely skin, the LF-Sh bears a V-8 engine mated to a hybrid motor system to produce “an acceleration feeling of a different dimension,” as executives describe it. The hybrid powertrain is capable of providing all-wheel drive. The concept LF-Sh is 199.2 inches long, with a 116.9-inch wheelbase — roughly two inches and one inch longer than the current LS430. Toyota may be working on a new transmission with seven speeds for the production version of the LF-Sh, along with a lane-departure warning system and an updated version of its night-vision system.

 

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Toyota i-swing

 

Is it a Segway with a seat? Or the next step in the whole man-machine integration? Toyota’s i-swing concept takes the meaning of personal transportation a step smaller and even stranger. The concept is a two- or three-wheel vehicle paraded out for Tokyo audiences and offered up as an alternative to a four-wheel car for urban transportation. Steering the i-swing is accomplished by either a joystick or by a pair of pedals that respond to driver motion, almost like a pair of skis. The i-swing’s body is made of plastics and fabric, the latter of which can be changed out by owners as fashion dictates. An LED panel on the vehicle can also be programmed with the owners’ favorite video clips or still images to entertain other i-swingers, it’s supposed. Spooky bit: the i-swing is designed to use artificial intelligence to determine the driver’s habits and preferences.

 

 

 

Toyota bB

 

If you’re looking for the follow-up vehicle to the Scion xB and a spiritual sister to Honda’s Element, you’ve found it in the bB concept, one of a slew of boxy, foxy vehicles set out by Japan’s automakers at the Toyotashow. The bB is a Scion-sized compact with an exterior — especially in the junction of the windshield and hood — that resembles Honda’s larger crossover vehicle. More rounded and less blocky than the current Scion xB, the bB’s electric-green paint is complemented by nightclub lighting inside and a nine-speaker sound system. Turn on your favorite tunes, and the lights bounce along to the beat — even if it’s the Carpenters. This “place to chill out” was hardly mentioned in the course of Toyota’s press conference, but it’s empirically evident that the Scion xB, due for a replacement in a year or so, could end up looking very much like the bB.