Back in the day (waaaay back in the day…) when concept cars weren’t about hokey technology to save the planet, motor show specials were a lot more fun.

A case in point is the Mazda RX-500, which was unveiled at the 1970 Tokyo Motor Show. A futuristic, mid engined rotary concept, it was a proper working prototype with some tasty mechanicals. The engine was touted as being a production 12A, presumably because the 12A engine was having its debut in the Capella that year. However the engine bay of the RX-500 remained resolutely shut during the show…

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The automotive world is saddened today by news of the passing of Andreas Pininfarina, CEO of the renowned Italian design house responsible for everything from the Peugeot 403 to the Ferrari Enzo.

Pictured here is the Honda HP-X, unveiled at the 1984 Turin Motor Show. It’s powered by a 2.0L Formula 2 V6 mounted midship, just behind the two seats and wrapped in a sleek, Pininfarina-penned body.

Andreas Pininfarina was the grandson of founder Battista “Pinin” Farina, who in 1930 opened a small auto body shop that went on to become one of the most famous design studios in the world. The firm designed cars for a wide range of manufacturers, including Ford, Cadillac, Citroën, Volvo, BMLC, Jaguar, Rolls Royce and of course, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari.

Pininfarina’s cause of death was a motor scooter accident near Turin and he is survived by his wife and three children. His father Sergio is an honorary chairman of the company.

[The Times]

Although hybrids may still seem like new-fangled technology, they’ve been around the block. And we’re not just talking about how the Prius, which debuted in 1997, is already over a decade old. No, let’s go back 31 years to when roller discos and Star Wars were still cool and Toyota debuted its first hybrid.

Based on the Toyota Sports 800, the GT Hybrid concept did away with a conventional internal combustion engine and was powered by a gas turbine instead. But rather than scooting down the highway like a taxiing airliner, the GT Hybrid used the jet engine as part of a series hybrid configuration. That means the turbine powered an electric generator, which in turn charged the hybrid’s batteries and powered an electric motor that turned the driveshaft. When bursts of power were needed, the energy stored in the batteries provided an extra jolt. Unlike the far more common parallel hybrids of today, the turbine never drove the wheels at all. This pre-Prius was shown at the 1977 Tokyo Motor Show as a concept but never produced. Still, the knowledge gained proved invaluable when development of the Prius began in 1994.

Over at Autoblog today, they have a post about Spanish design firm SURE’s Toyota 2000SR Concept. They, and we, want to make it crystal Pepsi clear, this rendering is in no way connected to Toyota at all. Got it? Good. Moving on.

Clearly, the car is meant to evoke Toyota’s legendary 1967 2000GT, and from certain angles, it does. The sharply creased fenders and haunches and “Chinese eye” side glass certainly do, but we’re not quite sure about the rear 3/4 shot. Some things seem like they’re of limited practical value, such as the minuscule rear window, lack of any apparent doors, and a raisable spoiler that will surely be the focal point of much derision.

Initially, we were jazzed about more 2000GT love, but a little snooping on SURE’s website reveals that this is probably just a touched up version of their SR1 fantasy design. Check out the rest of the pics in Autoblog’s gallery.

A few weeks ago we told you about the Mazda Design Challenge, which allowed you – the user! – to submit a design for the Mazda 3 of 2018.  Well the submissions are in, and now the top 10, as decided on by Mazda, have been selected.  Now Mazda wants you to vote on your favorite.  The winning design will be executed in full 3-D at the LA Auto Show next month.  Doesn’t sound like much time, does it?

Anyway, we are sad to report that not a single retro theme made the cut, as Mazda is going full steam ahead with the alien cocoon look.  Can we still dream, or is it In Pod we Trust from now on?

The wackiest showcase of concept cars on Earth, the Tokyo Motor Show, is about drop. Sure, the big gala at Makuhari Messe is a great chance for Japanese automakers to express, in automotive form, technology, sustainability or speed. But let’s face it, we want to see the nuttiness. You’re not going to find a glow-in-the-dark car with no corners that is not only soft to the touch, but wants to be touched, at Frankfurt or Motown.

Thankfully, the show also makes way for more grounded design studies, and we are particularly thankful for the Honda CR-Z. According to Honda, the moniker stands for “Compact Renaissance Zero,” a phrase that leads us to believe that this concept will signal a rebirth of the sorely missed Honda CR-X. The original pocket rocket ushered in an era of cheap wheeled fun and, eventually, the whole import tuning scene, and Honda seeks to recapture the spirit of that age, calling it a Renaissance. Who are we to argue?

Also, in Japanese parlance, “zero” refers to the idea of returning to the core of whatever it is that’s being zeroed and starting anew from that point. This sounds like some form of tacit acknowledgment that the CR-X’s eventual mutation into the del Sol and its subsequent disappearance altogether was a bad thing, as many of the car’s fans have suggested. So, while the CR-Z is powered by a hybrid engine unlike its predecessors, it should still, in theory, reflect the essence of the original CR-X by being compact, lightweight, and above all, a blast to drive. The Tokyo Motor Show opens on October 26.

[Source: Honda]

Thanks to our friends at grandJDM, the biggest car news blog in the States, Autoblog, received a little lesson in Japanese supercar history today. There is absolutely no reason for us to repeat the excellent write-up that grandJDM has done and Autoblog has repeated, so we will merely say please go to the source for the story on this unique automobile, the 1978 Dome Zero.

Source: [Autoblog via grandJDM]
Image courtesy of Dome.co.jp.