Autoblog

It's time for Autoblog Podcast #89. Of course we run over what's been in the garage lately – you'll know what reviews to anticipate. Our big item this week is recapping what we saw in Geneva and what might actually wind up in the US. Talk of Geneva moves us to anticipatory chatter about New York, mere days away. Thanks for your 49 minutes!

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The product leakage continues as we're packing our bags for Geneva. This time, Autoweek.nl has released images of the Kia SOUL Burner Concept, one of three concepts that the Korean automaker will be unveiling in southern Switzerland.

The SOUL is obviously taking aim at the Scion xB, which took the two-box design to literal levels. This new image gives us the full-frontal treatment of the new Kia people-mover, with a fascia that mixes sportiness with an upright demeanor. It's not bad, although the pseudo-tribal graphics are so 1996. But the raked windshield and shortened D-pillar make it stand out a bit more than the xB from which it finds inspiration.

[Source: Autoweek.nl via WCF]

The current standard-wheelbase Spyker C8 Laviolette

Spyker may be down, but it's not out. The Dutch exotic automaker has fallen on some hard times, but that's not going to stop it from moving forward with at least some of its plans. The C12 Zagato has been postponed indefinitely, but at the upcoming Geneva auto show in March, Spyker is expected to unveil an improved version of its existing C8 Laviolette.

As wonderfully quirky as the current C8 is, owners complain of constricted space. In response Spyker has stretched the wheelbase, giving more space in the cabin while improving the vehicles proportions. The C8 Laviolette LWB will feature an elongated version of the current model's glass roofline. A long wheelbase Spyder version is expected to follow sometime thereafter, benefiting from a proper motorized convertible roof instead of the largely useless folding rag on the current short-wheelbase model. It's a small step forward for the ailing company, but a step forward nonetheless.

Follow the jump for a video rendering of the upcoming C8 Spyder LWB doin' the turntable thing.

[Source: Spyker Owner Forum]

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image to view just how much legroom this truly mini vans have

Pity poor Suzuki. Japan's vast market for mini vehicles has been dominated by the company since the creation of kei cars in the '50s, but ever since the turn of the millennium, Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has been taking some serious chunks out of Suzuki's market share. The final straw came at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show when Daihatsu premiered the Tanto -- a kei with minivan-style sliding rear doors and simply astounding amounts of leg room and interior space. Suzuki had to react, so at this year's Tokyo Motor Show it unveiled the Palette (shown above), a car strikingly similar to the Tanto in profile, but with a smidge more legroom.

So balance has been restored to the kei car market then? Nope. Daihatsu has upped the ante by removing the B-pillar from the Tanto (shown at right), creating a mammoth hole through which struggling toddlers can be passed. The ball is back in your court Suzuki.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image for more live pics of the Daihatsu HSC Concept

We missed the Daihatsu HSC at Frankfurt somehow, but stumbled across the little concept in Tokyo. Its "catamaran-like underbody", a CD value of 0.28, and idling stop function coupled to an advanced CVT all adds up to 60 mpg. Check out those mirrors and the funky interior, too. Looking around the stand here in Tokyo, it strikes us that a lack of B pillars and A pillars that flow into the headlights may well become Daihatsu trademarks over the coming years.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

There's more than a hint of Toyota's PM, i-Swing and i-REAL series about this concept. But where Toyota admits that the driver may occasionally want to get out of the pod, Suzuki sees no reason for such extravagant use of your legs when operating the PIXY. Leaving the city for a blast down the highway? Just drive your PIXY in to your SSC mothership. Want to go for a thrash though the mountains? Park up in your SSF sports-car unit. There's even a speed boat (SSJ) on the cards, not that you'd be able to smell the sea breeze. Both the PIXY and SSC appear to be hermatically sealed and were unbearably hot under the stage lights. Ideal transportation for a post nuclear war world perhaps?

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
Click above image to view more live pics of the crab-like Pivo2 from Nissan

After a few days of regurgitating the same old story to the world's press, company PR men are apt to let little gems slip as fatigue and boredom set in. This year's classic comes from a Nissan PR man, who for the sake of his career, shall remain nameless.

The Pivo 2, replete with an R2D2 like co-pilot and wheels that can twist 90 degrees to the car's axis, was "designed with urban females in mind, as they have bad senses of direction and are not so good at driving." His words, not ours.

Click through to find more pictures of Nissan's answer to this urban malaise.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image for more live shots of the Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept

Following the debut of the first Kizashi concept in Frankfurt, the folks at Suzuki's design studios have butched up the concept even more. Check out the Ben Hur/James Bond tire-chewing alloys. Though there may be plans afoot for the Kizashi to see production, those wheels are not included among them.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image to view more live pics of the Suzuki X-Head

Remember the Suzuki Samurai, the lightweight 4x4 much maligned for being just as likely to topple over as any other Jeep of its day? Well, it's alive and well and being sold throughout the world as the Jimny. The X-Head just might be its future and we can only hope that Suzuki's notoriously tight bean counters do not savage the functional yet oh so cool interior too badly. Who knows, they may even bring it Stateside. Yeah, right.

Check out our original post on the Suzuki X-Head here and view live pics from last week's Tokyo Motor Show in the gallery below.

click above image to view more live shots of the Mud Master-C

Didn't Space 1999's Moon Base Alpha have a couple of these in the garage?

Looking like a Mitsubishi Delica that's spent too much time in the boil wash, Daihatsu's Mud Master-C is a kei car, but with lofty ambitions. This is far from Daihatsu's first foray into the off road world - they've made jeeps and even jacked up kei vans in the past - albeit all shod with far smaller wheels than these cool 16-inch alloys. Who knows, this could even make production. Click here to read our original post with more details on Mud Master Concept and check out the gallery of live shots below.