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It’s the SEMA show of Japan—with kei cars!
The Tokyo Auto Salon has been packing the Makaharu Messe out past Tokyo Disneyland for almost all of its 37 years, with loads of custom cars and thousands of aftermarket parts manufacturers. But it really classed up the ol’ Messe this year, at least compared to only a few years ago when it more closely resembled a Japanese version of the Essen Motor Show in Germany, or the SEMA show in Las Vegas. While those shows have been accused by some of lacking what you call “good taste,” this year’s Auto Salon featured some really cool cars and major announcements from most Japanese carmakers.
Honda showed a camouflaged next-gen Civic Type R at the Salon, and released a YouTube video to go with it. Exact details were slim, but Honda does say it’s the fastest production Civic ever. What we could tell from the video was that the hot hatch has three exhaust pipes, four doors, and a big wing on the back. The video shows the Type R lapping Suzuka Circuit in Japan, a feat it seems to be accomplishing at what they call full wallop.
“Fresh from testing at the Suzuka Circuit, the all-new Honda Civic Type R made its first public appearance in prototype at the Tokyo Auto Salon, Japan’s premiere high-performance and custom car show,” Honda said in a brief release. “Wearing a special camouflage designed exclusively for Type R, the prototype is featured in a new action-packed test-driving video, so TAS visitors can go behind the scenes with Honda engineers and experience the development of Type R. The best performing Civic Type R ever will be officially unveiled this year.”
One of a fleet of ultra-cute little kei-class devices that are flooding the Tokyo Auto Salon this year, the Honda 3rd Place Van concept is an N-Van that’s been modified to serve as a mobile coffee shop. There have been no shortage of dreamers who have tried to turn Citroën H Vans into mobile creperies, with varying results, why not do the same on a smaller, kei-class trucklet? I’d buy a cup of coffee out of one of these and I don’t even drink coffee! Honda also brought something called the N-WGN Picnic, another take on the cute little practical people hauler. That one is a kei car designed for family excursions.
The semi-sinister-looking Toyota GR GT3 Concept, made by Gazoo Racing, is more than just a motorsports tool.
“This is not just a concept,” said Gazoo Racing’s Koji Sato. “This one is the real one that will be featured in competition, to race.”
GT3 events run all over the world, involving about 400 different cars, Sato said. “GT3 is the top-ranked vehicle for customer motorsports.”
No specs were released, but Toyota did suggest that “TGR is committed to further accelerating customer motorsports activities to make the world of motorsports sustainable.” What does that mean? Hybrid? BEV? Anyone? Bueller?
No word on whether anything this cool will ever make production outside of racing, but there was a sort of hint in a Toyota statement that came with the reveal: “…by commercializing motorsports cars rather than simply adapting production vehicles for use in motorsports, TGR intends to use feedback and technologies refined through participation in various motorsports activities to develop both GT3 and mass-production cars and further promote making ever-better motorsports-bred cars.”
At the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota revealed a Gazoo Racing Yaris with a 268-hp turbo three-cylinder and a “rally-derived” all-wheel-drive system. It looked like loads of fun.
“Using lessons learned from motorsports competition, body rigidity has been enhanced, weight has been reduced by approximately 20 kg (44 pounds), overall width has been increased by 10 mm (just under half an inch) for aerodynamic improvement, and vehicle height has been reduced by 10 mm for a lower center of gravity,” Toyota explained.
It also has a mechanical limited-slip differential, a close-ratio gear transmission, and a low final gear set, the latter which Toyota says “has been improved through repeated breaking and fixing."
It sounded great, but we here in the U.S. howled in agony because we couldn’t get it. There was even an official form where you could complain directly to Toyota. Well, guess what? We still can’t get it. Maybe that’s why this one was shown in Japan and not SEMA. Toyota Gazoo Racing will sell 500 of these through a lottery system, but only in Japan. If you really want one, consider moving across the Pacific. You can race it in the Super Taikyu Series over there, where Toyota president Akio Toyoda raced one. Prices range from $64,000 to $74,000.
This is a tuner version of the full-battery electric bZ4X hatch shown at L.A. last year. That RAV4-sized crossover will go on sale in the U.S. later this year, with a WLTP range of 310 miles from its 71.4-kWh battery. The L.A. show car will offer 210- or 215-hp versions in front- or all-wheel drive, riding on the e-TNGA platform that will underpin many of those electric cars Akio Toyoda promised us only a few weeks ago.
This car is based on the bZ4X dedicated battery EV, but the bZ4X GR Sport Concept “delivers an elevated level of environmental performance and driving pleasure,” Toyota says. It offers large-diameter tires, sports seats, and matte black exterior body panels, among other concept car features. No further info was offered, but is there a market for a tuner version of an all-electric crossover? The market will decide—if it comes to market.
Lexus collaborated with off-road aftermarket parts maker JAOS on this stylish—if patently impractical—LX.
“LEXUS is committed to offering a diverse range of products to meet the diversifying needs and lifestyles of its customers. The new LX, which went on sale today in Japan, offers a higher level of refinement, while maintaining its time-tested reliability, durability and off-road driving performance in order to provide its guests with a rewarding lifestyle experience whether it is in the urban city or deep off the beaten track.”
The LX 600 Offroad gets various lightweight, high rigidity infusion-molded CFRP parts for the front and rear bumper skid protectors, as well as for the over fenders. The car also features specially developed 20-inch ENKEI made wheels forged by "TEAM JAOS."
Those 20s kinda remove any off-road cred, but who really takes something like this offroad, anyway?
Subaru launched two electric concepts at Tokyo, a race car and a somewhat less-exciting crossover five-door hatch. Let’s look at the race car first.
“The STI E-RA Concept is a concept model of the STI E-RA electric race car being developed under STI’s near-future motorsport study project, the STI E-RA Challenge Project, launched with the aim of gathering experience with new technologies in the world of motorsports for the carbon-neutral era.”
Carbon neutral or not, the STI E-RA Concept makes 1073 hp through four motors driving all four wheels with torque vectoring. Yamaha made the high-torque motors, along with an integrated inverter and a gear for hyper EVs. The lithium-ion battery pack has a capacity of 60 kWh.
Let’s hope something comes of it, something we can drive, maybe.
The other Subaru is the Solterra STI Concept. It is based on the Solterra all-electric SUV which made its world debut in November 2021. Featuring a roof spoiler, cherry-red under spoilers, and other special parts on its exterior, the model inspires Subaru’s superior drivng dynamics, the carmaker said.
“Equipped with the Ralliart accessories, the Outlander Ralliart Style and the Eclipse Cross Ralliart Style offer a sense of excitement to customers who seek their own unique driving and styling,” Mitsubishi said.
The body is painted in premium high-brightness White Diamond, while the front, side, and rear garnishes and the liftgate spoiler are colored in red to give the exterior “a sporty look.” The alloy wheels are painted black, and the side decals and mud flaps with the Ralliart logo express the passion of Ralliart for refinement of road performance.”
Both Outlander and Eclipse Cross already stand out in the crowded crossover community; the Ralliart treatment only helps them stand out more. If you wanted to complain you could say that, given the tremendous motorsports history behind the Ralliart name, we could have expected some more performance-enhancing tricks.
What does Tough x Tough even mean? Who cares? This thing is so cute!
The Delica is a very rare sight here on our shores, and not exactly common back in Japan, either. But when you do see them, they’re always tricked out for adventure. This Delica D:5 Tough x Tough is equipped with various aftermarket parts and Ralliart accessories to further emphasize its tough, off-road styling, Mitsu says. The Black Mica body is complemented by matte black front grille and fender garnish, as well as red door mirrors and fog light garnish, which are the Ralliart accessories. The suspension is lifted with new shocks and springs, and they even managed to get 16- inch alloy wheels with all-terrain tires in the wheelwells. Those are unique front and rear bumper guards and mud flaps, too. The Delica D:5 Tough x Tough is also equipped with a roof carrier, a rooftop tent and a sleeping pad which can be used to make a fully flat bed over the second and third row seats, “for a comfortable overnight stay.”
How difficult can it be to Federalize these? Come on, Mitsubishi!
Full disclosure: Your author is one of about 11 people in the U.S. who bought a Mitsubishi iMiEV, that little electric blop of a kei car. So I’m predisposed to love this one. And I do. Perhaps you do, too?
Mitsu says the Minicab-MiEV B-Leisure Style is a kei-car class electric commercial vehicle that serves as a remote power supply. The exterior features two-tone paint with ivory-colored roof and moss green body “reminiscent of forests and campgrounds,” along with side decals of plugs, a tent, and a work desk. Fit for solo camping, the Minicab-MiEV B-Leisure Style is equipped with various gear such as an awning, camp table, and folding cot. Inside, the rear space is arranged to be fully flat, and the cabin is equipped with a low table, a seat chair, and a rug to enhance comfort for remote working. The Minicab-MiEV B-Leisure Style also gets the MiEV Power Box, which can use the power from the drive battery to power electronics and appliances such as an electric kettle, a coffee maker, or a laptop. When they ran at Pikes Peak, they used one to make rice at the starting line to feed everyone.
Even though this doesn’t look like it could fit two grown adults—and even though it will never, ever see the inside of a U.S. showroom since Daihatsu left our shores something like 30 years ago and took the Rocky SUV with it—we still demand it be sold here. The Atrai Deck Camper is beyond cute, to the point practicality almost doesn’t matter. Even in stock form, the little kei-class Atrai barely fits humans inside. The micro-abbreviated pickup bed in back only makes it that much less practical. Daihatsu officially calls the rig “a reliable companion who turns every day into an adventure."
Liberty Walk is a Japanese company that makes body kits for cool cars. It’s been doing this since it modified a Murcielago customer car in 2008. After that, LW decided to make a kit for other Murcy owners. From thence came all kinds of “modifications,” as Liberty Walk calls them. They showed Murcielago kits at SEMA in 2009 and again in 2012. As Google translate says from Liberty Walk’s home page, “The impact of this was strong. The American people who saw LB Works Murcielago applauded, ‘Japanese people do this much!’”
At the 2013 SEMA show Liberty Walk displayed a 458 Italia and a GT-R, followed by an Aventador in 2014. Now they have modifications for just about every cool car made—and even some uncool cars.
At this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, Liberty Walk unveiled a kit for the C8 Corvette, with new front and rear bumpers, side diffusers, wide body fender kit, and a big ole monster rear wing. It’s $19,580 in FRP, fiberglass reinforced polymer, while in CFRP, carbon fiber reinforced polymer, it costs $21,780. The kits shown in the photos look like the body was also lowered, which doesn’t appear on the parts list. So plan to sort that out on your own to get the exact look shown here.
This is either the coolest thing you’ve ever seen or it looks like an exhausted fish that has beached itself. We’ll go with the former as long as we don’t look at that snout, which just needs a fake red tongue hanging out of it. Mitsuoka is a Japanese company that makes cars that kind of look like classics but then kind of don’t. A gander at their website shows Bentley “inspired” sedans and something that looks like a Corvette Stingray Convertible—until you look closer. The idea is to have fun, and every Tokyo Auto Salon and Tokyo Auto Show has been made more fun by the presence of these little imitators. The Orochi is its own beast, though, a shape made for shape’s sake and you either love it or hate it. Liberty Walk loved it enough to make a body kit for it. What do you think?