"Sustainability" is the catchword in Tokyo, just as it was in Frankfurt in September. Pushing clean, green cars is serious business, though, and for '07, the Tokyo show takes another step toward soberness. I think it started in '05 (the Tokyo show is bi-yearly).
The Honda disco-floor and Toyota Pod, with its wagging tail, were gone. Yeah, there will always be tiny pod cars. Ever since Woody Allen's "Sleeper" in 1973, the Japanese auto industry has been trying to put some version of that movie's conveyances on the road. But the exuberance has been stifled, and the Japanese pop production numbers leading off such unveilings have given way to shorter, more serious introductions.
So this year was even more serious, as if Tokyo wants to become Frankfurt or Detroit. But even if there's more substance over sizzle, it's still Planet Tokyo. There's still much to be celebrated. Here are some of my favorites:
The car I want to buy: Honda CRX, er, CR-Z. If it's built right, which is to say, as small and lightweight as they can pull off. Base it on the Fit platform, keep weight under 2600 pounds, and do two or three powertrain versions, like the Mini Cooper.
The car I want to have enough money to buy: BMW tii concept. If equipped with the twin-turbo 3.0-liter six.
Best alterna-truck: Toyota HiCT. A mini semi-truck tractor for the active family, featuring two Segway-like mini-skateboards and a plug-in hybrid powertrain. (The way Toyota calls every concept a plug-in, you'd think they were worried about the Chevy Volt.)
The car I want built: Mazda Taiki. Would make a better rotary-powered sports car than the RX-8. It would push Mazda to the lead among trend-setting automakers.
The truck I want to buy: Daihatsu Mud-Master c. Just big enough to hold two mountain bikes, and designed like a modern-retro '60s Japanese van, it's just the right size for my needs.
I'll take two Polish beers, please: Nissan Pivo 2. There's something new versus the '05 Pivo 1, but I can't quite remember what it is.
Best mini Paris-to-Dakar active lifestyle truck: Suzuki X-Head. The biggest little truck, or the littlest big truck, ever designed. Most of my colleagues prefer this to the Mud-Master, but I'll take the Mud-Master for its name alone.
Car that VW wishes it had designed: Mitsubishi i-Miev coupe concept. Stylish inside and out, it could have been the New New Beetle.
Best warning: Nissan NV200. It's a delivery truck with a set of drawers that pull out of the cargo area, so that the UPS guy or bookmobile librarian doesn't have to reach into the compartment for things. A warning sticker reads: Attention! Pod opens.
Isn't that a 280ZX?: Nissan GT-R. Something about the Japanese industry equates overwrought brutishness with power. Think Subaru WRX STI. The GT-R has a few too many bulges and angles. When I walked in to the Nissan display and could only see the DLO, I thought Nissan had placed an old 280ZX on stage.
Chrysler memorial lost design-mojo award: Subaru Exiga. Presumably the next-generation Legacy wagon, it has been hit with the WRX stick.
Hey, isn't that the next Infiniti Q45?: Nissan Intima concept.
Hey, isn't that the next Mitsubishi Galant?: Mitsubishi ZT concept. Except that it's not. It's a concept designed to show off Mitsu's new 2.2-liter clean diesel. There's a facelift of the current Galant coming for '09, so if the ZT becomes a real car, we may not see it for a while.
Hey, isn't that a ... uh, big Suzuki sedan?: Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept. Hey, is that necessary? You still don't need "necessary" in Tokyo.
Car most likely to star in a remake of Woody Allen's "Sleeper": Honda Puyo. Also, the car most likely to grab the attention of breast implant aficionados and Stretch Armstrong doll collectors.
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