Car Tech Articles

This new minivan concept could enter production in 2008. It features luxurious middle- and third-row seats that recline and have ottomans. These seats also each get a video monitor mounted on the head rest in front, making it a fine line between personal jet and minivan.

The greenhouse on the RiN is actually green, as befits the idea behind the car. It is supposed to promote the health and well-being of its occupants through posture correcting seats and a mood-meter on the steering wheel. If the car detects tension, it will try to calm down the driver.

RD/BX stands for round box, in Nissan nomenclature, and this concept embraces that oxymoronic phrase. The interior is designed to let its occupants interact freely, with plenty of openness between the front and back seats. The instrument cluster is pure concept car, with luminescent displays and LCDs.

Possibly the next-generation Galant, the Concept-ZT sports a luxury look we wouldn't have expected from Mitsubishi. Beyond its elegant exterior and interior, it runs off a clean diesel engine mated to a twin-clutch transmission.

Honda makes an environmentally conscious design with the CR-Z. The little sports car, which borrows styling from the past CR-X, uses a hybrid powertrain. Interior elements come from the current generation of the Civic. Honda is committed to building some form of this little sports car in 2009.

The Hi-CT looks like a Scion xB for tall people. With a freight truck design, it's not pretty, but it does employ the usual concept-car features, such as a yoke-style steering wheel, lots of panels on the instrument cluster, and a white interior. The rear external deck can be used to store sports gear.

Mud Master-C may not rap, but it does all right off-road. This concept uses a body-on-frame design, with lots of clearance underneath for tackling rough surfaces. At the Tokyo auto show, the concept was shown adapted for carrying mountain bikes, but Daihatsu can build it for all sorts of uses.

The Intima takes Nissan into the large luxury category, up there with the likes of the Lexus LS 460 and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. With carriage doors that open wide, you would think access is good enough, but Nissan makes it even easier with a front passenger seat that swivels 80 degrees out.

A good part of the exhibition space at the 2007 Tokyo auto show is devoted to motorcycles. Manufacturers such as Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda had some fascinating concept bikes on display, showing how they see the future of motorcycling. From big, high-tech concepts that look like they came straight out of Akira, to green and clean fuel-cell scooters, these bikes show off two-wheelers for every purpose. And there's even a four-wheel motorcycle in the mix.

Click here for photos of motorcycle concepts at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.