Autoblog

click above image for 17 more pics of the Daihatsu Mud Master-C Concept

The Mud Master-C Concept from Daihatsu looks like a Dakar rally van that's been left in the wash too long. It's a true truck with a body-on-frame design, though. It's generous ride height and copious degrees of approach and departure angles mean that the Mud Master-C can actually go places while leaving an eency-weency footprint in its wake.

Daihatsu says that there are three gullwing doors on the concept, though they're really hatches, one on each side and one on the back. The truly neat thing about the Mud Master-C Concept is that it's configurable. For instance, the mountain bike support model developed with professional cyclist Raita Suzuki (shown at right) is configured to carry a pair of bikes, but the concept can also be configured as an open bed truck capable of carrying an ATV or even a crane!

Check out more info and Daihatsu's press release after the jump, and be sure to browse the gallery to see the Mud Master-C's unique features.

[Source: Daihatsu]

click above image for gallery of the FT-MV Concept

While most of the concepts you've seen so far from Toyota have been of the pie-in-the-sky variety, the FT-MV minivan concept seems much more grounded and closer to production. It's not like Toyota's trying to hide that fact, either. The concept's name, FT-MV, basically stands for "Future Minivan". Our insiders tell us that we could see a production minivan inspired by the FT-MV sometime in 2008, though we hope the design is toned down a mite in the meantime. While the exterior is fairly flamboyant, the interior actually looks ready for primetime save for a few futuristic features. The second- and third-row seats, for instance, fully recline and passengers can kick their feet up on motorized ottoman-like foot rests that pop out of the seatbacks. The center console, as well, is a single, flat surface that can display any interface required for the task at hand. There's also some purplish interior mood lighting for effect. Fancy features for sure, but all are surrounded by what appears to be a pretty common upscale minivan interior. Soccer moms of the future, you're chariot awaits.

[Source: Toyota]

click above image to enlarge

Toyota will have nine concept vehicles on display at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, some of which we've seen before while others, like the 1/X, we haven't. Toyota points out in its mini press release that the name of this concept is pronounced "1/Xth", as in the car weighs 1/Xth the weight of similarly sized vehicles. The automaker uses its own Prius as a basis of comparison, and the 1/X weighs about a third of that hybrid, or just 420 kilograms. That's 926 lbs. people. The feather light weight is made possible by extensive use of carbon fiber reinforced plastic in the vehicle's frame, which keeps weight down but is apparently strong enough to protect occupants in a crash.

The 1/X also features a green powertrain that combines a flex fuel 500cc engine and plug-in hybrid drive system. The combo-powerplant is located beneath the rear seat and drives the rear wheels. Toyota quotes fuel efficiency that is double of the Prius in a package that's roughly the same size and seats four.

The design is, well, Japaneriffic, but the idea behind the 1/X and technology contained therein is the real story.

[Source: Toyota]

click above image for more pics of the Honda PUYO Concept

Honda's second concept that debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show is the PUYO. The name is an onomatopoeia that, according to Honda, "expresses the sensation of touching the vehicle's soft body." Sounds kinky, but the PUYO's "gel body" actually is soft, which Honda claims increases safety. For some reason, we still wouldn't want to collide with one in a cross walk. According to this pic, however, the PUYO glows in the dark and therefore would be hard not to notice while crossing the street at night.

Since the theme of Honda's display this year is "For the endless joy of mobility on our earth," the PUYO is not surprisingly a green vehicle powered by a fuel-cell. It's design is that of a cornerless box, which provides the functionality of a cube-like design with a soft presence lacking any edges. The tiny wheels are at the extreme corners of the vehicle, and the pic above reveals that the PUYO can perform 360-degree turns in place. As the body turns to all glass above the beltline, it's apparent that Honda designers were intent on maximizing the feeling of spaciousness inside the PUYO. Just check out the size of those scissor doors!

Inside the PUYO you'll find an instrument panel monitor and a cloth dash that actually rises up when the vehicle is started, as well as a trick lighting system, "luminous fluid meter displays" and a joystick instead of a steering wheel.

Quirky and impractical probably best describes the PUYO, which is exactly what we expect from most concepts that debut in Tokyo.

[Source: Honda]

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]