Tag Archives: tokyo motor show

The Subaru Amadeus, an SVX shooting brake concept, has been scrapped for parts

The Subaru SVX is one of the Bubble Era greats. The sleek grand touring coupé epitomized the ambition of Japan’s carmakers at the tail end of the Showa Era. But you know what would’ve been even cooler? An SVX shooting … Continue reading

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The 1991 Nissan FEV was an electric concept that should be built today

Every Earth Day we at JNC highlight a car engineered with conservation in mind. This year, we go back to the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show, when Nissan unveiled their first “modern” electric vehicle. Whereas previous EVs had been tiny city … Continue reading

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Isuzu once made a J-body with a ceramic diesel hybrid engine for the Tokyo Motor Show

Every Earth Day we highlight a hybrid or alternative fuel concept car from Japan’s past. Back in 1985, long before the Prius was a twinkle in Toyota’s eye, Isuzu revealed a hybrid compact sedan at the Tokyo Motor Show. The … Continue reading

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VIDEO: The post-bubble 1993 Tokyo Motor Show was subdued but still awesome

By 1993 Japan was in a deep economic slump. As a result, the mood at the Tokyo Motor Show was a bit more sober, according to this Motorweek video. There were still lots of funky concepts, but fewer were geared … Continue reading

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50 YEAR CLUB: The Toyota Celica, a pivotal player in Japan’s car culture

Fifty years ago this day, on December 1 1970, the first Toyota Celica went on sale in Japan. It proved to be a groundbreaking car, the first of Japan’s production “specialty cars”, fashionable personal coupes based on a sedan chassis. … Continue reading

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CONCEPT CARS: 1991 Honda EP-X

Here at JNC, we have an Earth Day tradition where we dig deep into the memory banks to highlight an environmentally themed, often bizarre concept. This time around, we’d like to draw your attention to the alien-looking 1991 Honda EP-X.

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Tokyo Motor Show: Could this be the return of the Honda Hunter Cub?

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda quietly rolled out a bike concept that hearkens back to the original CT110, aka the Trail Cub or the Hunter Cub. Though not for production, Honda says it was there simply to gauge customer … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Mazda MX-30 subtly references history, may signal return of rotary engine

Mazda just unveiled the MX-30 at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show. A battery electric cross over coupe, the newest member of the MX family will be Mazda’s first production electric car. It also comes with a surprise call-out to the … Continue reading

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Suzuki’s retro concept revives the dream of the Pulsar EXA

Suzuki has released images of its upcoming concepts for the Tokyo Motor Show, and they are pretty much bonkers. The most interesting one to JNCers will no doubt be the WakuSpo Concept, a small retro car that picks up where … Continue reading

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ORIGINAL CONCEPT: 1987 Subaru BLT

If there was a single concept car that summed up the optimism 1980s and the upcoming digital revolution, it would have to be the relatively unknown Subaru BLT concept of 1987. As you may have guessed, it didn’t stand for … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: The State of Cars in Japan

By now you have seen plenty of car magazine and social media channels declare the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show as being a disappointment. Leading up to the show, there were whispers of some tasty production cars being revealed: a Fairlady Z … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Incredible Iwate lacquer steering wheels

One of the most beautiful things we saw at the Tokyo Motor Show was located at a small, carless booth in a remote corner of the convention center. Japan is of course known for its traditional crafts, many that have been honed for … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: The Kawasaki Z900RS is the Kenmeri Skyline of bikes reborn

There’s just one more bike story to cover from our visit to the Tokyo Motor Show, but it’s an important one. The Kawasaki Z900RS is a glorious throwback to the heyday of Japanese motorcycling, going all the way back to 1972 … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Nissan brought a Fairlady after all

After all our bellyaching about how there was no Supra or Fairlady at the Tokyo Motor Show this year as many had expected, it appears that we spoke to soon! Upon examining our TMS materials more carefully, it turns out that Nissan did in fact bring a … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Daihatsu brought the wrong Compagno

Daihatsu’s booth at the Tokyo Motor Show was the only one that had any sort of nostalgia factor. They even brought out a classic Midget and classic Compagno to sit prominently on stage beside the concepts they inspired. Unfortunately for the latter, … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: The heritage is strong with Daihatsu

Daihatsu came out strong this year with heritage models. We’ve already seen the Daihatsu DN Compagno concept, which shared the stage with a classic Compagno. Also at the Daihatsu stage was its most iconic nostalgic car, a 1959 Midget. 

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Tokyo Motor Show: 2018 Toyota Century

The Toyota Century is not just an executive sedan, it is a pillar of Japanese tradition. And like most Japanese traditions, it has carried on virtually unchanged for a long, long time. At the Tokyo Motor Show, however, nearly 50 years after … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Mazda’s concepts are simply stunning

In a largely disappointing Tokyo Motor Show, the stars of the Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi booths were autonomous or electric or overstyled crossovers — sometimes all three. Only Mazda bucked the trend with a couple of concepts that went old … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Daihatsu saves the day

The Tokyo Motor Show was largely disappointing this year, mainly caused by high expectations. There was no Gran Turismo reunion of Supras, Zs, and Evos. In fact, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi all highlighted some sort of electric crossover van thingy. It was … Continue reading

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NEWS: Daihatsu’s retro concepts for the Tokyo Motor Show

This year’s Tokyo Motor Show might see the revival of some legendary models — Supra, Z, S2000, Evo — but it might be Daihatsu that takes the cake for the most charming heritage concepts this year. The compact car specialist has revealed a … Continue reading

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