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]

As if their inexpensive health care and lack of violent crime weren’t enough, our neighbors to the north can import any car they please, as long as it’s 15 years old. Seriously, guys? Californians are still getting their exhaust holes sniffed on cars double that age. This article in The Globe and Mail about an imported Nissan Figaro really twists the knife.

We’ve always been fans of the retro stylings of Nissan’s March-based boutique cars, with their uncanny ability to evoke post-War transport while luxuriating the driver in digital age comforts. But think of the other gems that fall into this time frame, everything from an R32 Skyline GT-R to Showa Era sleds like the Z20 Soarer, or how about a hot hatch like the Honda City Turbo II? The possibilities, and seething jealousy, are endless.

There’s no telling how long this sushi buffet will last. Some areas north of the 49th Parallel are already exhibiting US-like tendencies. The Canadian government could decide to adopt our import rules like they did our transportation safety laws, and then we’ll just be one big continent of sadness.

[Source: The Globe and Mail]

Used car lots in the US, much like grizzly bears and lawyers suffering from tuberculosis, are things to avoid if you know what’s good for you. In the UK, there’s at least one worth going to: AutoSupplyUK specializes in one car and one car only - the Nissan Figaro.

After getting ourselves all jazzed up about the retro-fabulous boutique car, some casual googling led us to the importer. There, we learned that Esquire has featured the Figaro in their April 2007 issue, which in turn taught us that the Figaro was even displayed at London’s Design Museum, alongside items like a Video iPod and, uh, water bottle to mark both the 25 “greatest creations” of the last quarter-century and the musuem’s own silver anniversary. Not bad for a car never officially imported to the Isles.

You can download a scan of the issue here (PDF).

Image and PDF courtesy of Esquire magazine via AutoSupplyUK.

Spotted on the streets of greater Tokyo, a Nissan Figaro. It’s got big chrome bumpers, two perfectly round saucer headlights, and an awesomely two-tone paint job that matches an off-white roof with a body slathered in hospital-hallway green. But in spite of all that retro goodness, the car isn’t a nostalgic; it’s just really really cool.

Long before there was a PT Cruiser, VW’s New Beetle, or a BMW-built Mini, there were the Nissan boutique cars. The fun started in 1987 when Nissan teamed up with Pike Factory to produce the Be-1, followed by the Pao, S-Cargo, and finally the Figaro, which capped off the series in 1991 with a run of 20,000 units.

All four cars looked old, but were actually based on the then-modern March compact, permitting ample hi-fi jamming via CD while enjoying a nice cold blast of a/c in your face, which, undoubtedly, would be sporting a grin the size of Katie Couric’s. I mean, how could you not, when the car you’re sitting in happens to have a cream-colored interior and – get this – a peel-back canvas top!