Japan Mobility Show proves there’s still cars to look forward to

With crossovers, EVs, and crossover EVs flooding the market you’d think the future of cars looks pretty bleak. Well, a stroll through the Japan Mobility Show does have plenty of those. But, there are also highlights that might spark car enthusiasts of the next generation.

The Daihatsu Midget has always exuded a certain charm, and the Midget X concept continues that tradition in an electric city runabout. It’s cute, fun, and isn’t trying to throw its electric bona fides in your face. The original helped get Japan on its feet in the postwar reconstruction. Seeing these buzz around Osaka or Tokyo while operating emissions-free may bring back some of that Showa Era optimism.

Sharing the stage with the Midget X was the most promising car for enthusiasts. The Daihatsu K-Open evolves the Copen from a stylish kei roadster in to a full-blown mini-Miata. It evolves and refines the Vision Copen concept from the 2023 JMS, which had grown beyond its kei car boundaries and gotten a 1.3-liter engine, doubling the kei displacement maximum.

This K-Open concept returns to kei size, but miraculously keeps the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, making it something of a modern day Suzuki Cappuccino. The concept even has a proper manual transmission and lever-style handbrake. The doors close with nylon strap pulls for weight and space savings, and it looks like an absolute hoot.

Over at the Honda booth it looked as if Honda had its own version of the Midget. The Micro EV is purely a concept and was created to solve the last-mile problem, or maybe even the second-to-last-mile problem because it was designed to stow a skateboard under the seat. The front end actually recalls the Honda Vamos, though the enclosed rear makes it a bit less utilitarian.

The Honda Prelude concept was still a big deal, despite not truly evoking the sports coupe spirit of Preludes past.  Sadly, the center console not only shows an automatic transmission, but Honda’s insanely stupid push-button gear selector that takes up the exact same footprint as a lever type but is less intuitive. Nevertheless, we hold out hope that the Prelude will be an entertaining car with some of Honda’s driving dynamics in its DNA.

We feared that Toyota’s long-promised “baby Land Cruiser” would be a Jeep Compass-like crossover with the body of a more rugged SUV. We were glad to be wrong. The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ is a true body-on-frame 4×4 with a packaging that’s about the size of a fourth-gen RAV4. Here’s a shot of what’s underneath, a good ol’ solid rear axle.

And finally, one of wildest concepts came not from any Japanese brand, but from Hyundai. The Insteroid is a wild take on the production Intster that is not sold in the US. The “Inster on steroids” (yes, that’s Hyundai’s actual description) boasts massive box flares and a wing the size of a credenza, it looks like a Group B rally car inspired by video games. It’s not meant for production, but man does it look like a blast.