Autoblog

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.

Click image for photo gallery

Nissan is following up its 2005 journey into weirdness, the Nissan PIVO concept, with an updated version that'll be on display in Tokyo. The innovatively-named, Isetta-doored PIVO 2 is a shaplier and more colorful take on its rotating-cabin predecessor, and this time around, the PIVO 2's driver gets some company in the form of the "Robotic Agent," a disembodied monkey head on the instrument panel that speaks English and Japanese and is able to help out with things like directions.

Compact Lithium Ion batteries power in-wheel motors, and the PIVO 2's wheels themselves rotate 90 degrees as well. Tight parking spot? Turn the passenger compartment sideways, turn the wheels, and slide right in or out. Then aim the cabin in the direction you want to go, straighten the wheels, and you're off, chatting with Robot Monkey Friend all the way. Welcome to Japan.

Our Tokyo team will attempt to befriend the Robotic Agent when they meet it in person next month. Hit the "Read" link for Nissan's public preview site.

UPDATE: Video after the jump!

[Source: NISSAN]