The Tokyo Motor Show was held from Oct. 26 to Nov. 5. These upcoming cars are mega futuristic. I don’t think your kids will drive these cars. Your grandkids will. These cars are designed for a rather sci-fi version of the future, though, but still have a lot to deliver.
The show features appearances of possibly the next GT-R, a flying Subaru, the next Honda Prelude, and a rotary Miata. Take this with a grain of salt, but the next few years are looking up for car enthusiasts. On the other hand, there were almost no gas cars showcased. The influence of environmental movements is clear. If this trend keeps up, there could be no gas cars by 2030*. Nissan has an exciting lineup coming up, which hasn’t finished loading in yet. The most exciting of the bunch is the Nissan Hyper Force, which has a ground-shattering 1,341 horsepower. That’s faster than a Formula 1 car. I am stoked for this car. It looks fast, and it is fast. I don’t know, something about this car speaks to me. It could be the butterfly doors or the stupid polygonal panels, but this car is going places. Hopefully, not the cutting room floor. It has a logo on the front, reminiscent of the GT-R. Could it be a successor to the R35 GT-R? Only time will tell. Mazda showcased a new concept car, which from the looks of it could be a Miata successor, to come with a two-rotor rotary engine, as well as electric motors.
The rotary can take in different types of fuel, too, which is a plus. They aim to “continue to pursue the ‘Joy of Driving’” while keeping their vehicles carbon-neutral. I miss the old Mazda. They haven’t made a rotary since 2012, and the current-gen Miata is… Eh. But, I do like this concept. It feels like it’s catered for car people. It looks like a Miata and an RX-7 and has the guts of the latter. Subaru is working on a new Air Mobility concept, pretty much just a flying Subaru, and a Sport Mobility concept, which doesn’t look half bad. Mitsubishi is working on a few consumer offroaders, but it’s nothing groundbreaking, as usual. On the contrary, Honda has revived the Prelude, a sports coupe that died out in 2001. Enthusiasts will be rather unenthused to find out it’s fully electric. Despite this, the design of the Prelude is sleek and has a projected model year of 2026. I am excited to see this car on the road. I know it’s an EV, which is, granted, lame, but I think this one is just fine. It looks stunning, and I hope Honda releases a hybrid. Honda also continues their quest to make every object ever with their battery packs, fuel cells, wheelchairs, jet engines, and jets. Surprisingly, Toyota has cooled its jets. They released the fiftieth generation Supra a few years ago, the GR86 and GR Yaris too, but this year things have slowed down. They had one performance concept on display at the TMC, another sports car called the FT-Se.
Made under the same team, it looks reminiscent of the GR Supra. It looks amazing. I like this car. I really do. It’s an EV, like most cars on this list, but Toyota is attempting to connect with car folk. The car looks like a dream, and no doubt can back it up. It’s up to car people to make the electric leap, though. In other news, Suzuki is working on a new Swift, and Daihatsu is making another copen. Unfortunately, the last Daihatsu fan died in 1983. Everyone has gone electric. While, in the long run, it is better for the environment, EVs, to a car guy like me, are a husk of a vehicle. A gas car feels alive. Jeremy Clarkson once said, “People like you or I know we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities… You can develop a relationship with a car and that’s what non-car people don’t get… When something has foibles and won’t handle properly, that gives it a particularly human quality because it makes mistakes, and that’s how you can build a relationship with a car that other people won’t get.” With an EV, that connection is weak, or nonexistent. This TMC was alright. The cars were plenty good enough, and they were a bit too futuristic for me. The designs, especially on Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota’s part, look too far ahead. My advice to those three would be to look back a little. Honda did it right, reviving the prelude, same with Mazda, taking a stroll down memory lane. Every company, in the pursuit of trying something new, ends up doing the same “new” as everyone else.
