It may be called the Skydeck for show’s sake, but underneath the concept car makeover is Honda’s next Stream, the brand’s mid-sized MPV for Japan and formerly the European market. Conversely to many MPVs, the overall styling theme is sleek and sensual, with softened radii that point to the brand moving on from the crispness of the Fit and Insight. Core to the read of the car is the black cab that leaves a fluid bodyside within quite short - if equal - overhangs. The B-line dip aft of the A-post makes the mass elastic rather than tense, exaggerated by arch motifs which seem symmetrical about the B-post pushing the front and rear masses apart.
Up front there is a clean sweep from the cantrail into the hood, separating it from the fenders to create a CRZ-like front-clip, though in attempting to add more volume, the grille garnish looks a little too beak-like. At the rear, volume is lightened by the underside resolved into a clean surface in an area that is usually invisible. This leads into a distinctive spoiler and is a satisfying development of the need to smooth the underbody to reduce drag.
Within the show car door mechanism that cuts into the rocker to aid rear access, one is immediately struck by the confident swath of wood rolled over the IP and dials. This would not look out of place in an Audi, though conversely to their solid structures Honda has followed a lightness concept that sees laminated wood used to make seats slim, so that the middle row can slide under the front. Rails for this are mounted on a pronounced center console that adds substance to the interior while innovatively housing the hybrid system.
Though details such as the cheap lighting and bumper areas clearly denounce the Skydeck's showcar status, there is an underlying attraction in bringing CRZ style to a six-seater that we hope to see more of.
The first FT-EV was based on the iQ, and now Toyota is previewing the production model due 2012. At 2730mm long, the FT-EV II undercuts the iQ by nearly 300mm and will no doubt infuriate rival packaging designers by still hosting four people. This is achieved by mounting lithium batteries beneath the floor and using a motor instead that gives a 90km range on just 7.5 hours charge.
The concept for the FT-EV II was to move away from the image of the car, highlighted by the fabulous IP designed in Toyota's Tokyo-based advanced studio by Stephane Etienne. In making the car light and less car-like, Etienne has done away with all conventional structures in a highly original manner, using the same drive system as the iReal. In place of dark masses there is the simple harmony of aluminum and PVC, each element deconstructed with dials held like a shaving mirror and airbags encased in balloons. The whole assembly is suspended by delicate wires and mounted on the bulkhead, with kimono-inspired lapels that fold over the supporting strut. Elsewhere there is extensive use of silicon, with triangles imprinted on the seats representing pressure exerted by the body, the lightness concept again expressed by the thin leaves supporting each seat.
The exterior was designed in Toyota's main studio in Nagoya and is notable for its extensive glazing, with see-through rear lamps and a glazed hood that leads to a new physiognomy with the low-mounted 'T' badge flanked by solar panels. In keeping with the iQ, the B-post is kept body-color with a tight corner in the side glass, while the front arch extends into a dynamic bodyside-feature that also contains the push-button door handle. However the exterior lacks the imagination of the interior and fails to achieve the same deconstruction of our image of how a car should be. Nevertheless, with the FT-EV II Toyota again defines a new vehicle segment that ably responds to increased urbanization while also respecting the limitations of electric drive.
Japan is the land that invented the boxcar, so it's entirely fitting that Daihatsu chose the 2009 Tokyo motor show to launch its latest and one of its tallest: the Deca Deca concept.
Billed by the firm as a 'super box', the Deca Deca features a flat floor and suicide doors on one side that open out to 135 degrees to allow superb access to the massive interior space (the cabin is 1400mm high). As it is also , is devoid of a B-pillar, the ease of access enables the pursuit of a diverse range of activities from mountainbiking to carrying disabled passengers. Simple seating folds away to the sides when not required and a built-in fold-down 35-inch LCD monitor envisages the car could also be used for business meetings or leisurely picture editing, viewing and uploading.
The car feels particularly tall and boxy due to large vertical windows, a low beltline and an even lower feature line that, after curving round the front wheel arch runs horizontally along the car's flank below its door handles. A large, horizontal convex section then separates this line from another parallel feature line above that runs all the way from the rear before turning up and back to form the A-pillar in a graphically clean and coordinated way. At the front, three thick grille strips help make the tall car seem wider and more planted on the road.
Other neat details on the exterior include a high horizontal slit window reminiscent of the 2005 Ford SYNus concept on the Deca Deca's non-opening side, and excellent rear access via a single huge side-hinged door. The only criticism of the chunky concept heard on the show floor during the day was aimed at its front face's 'up and over' front headlamps on its hood - which were deemed by some to be a little too similar to the Honda Mobilio production car. Still, a pleasing and suitably Japanese-feeling Tokyo concept.
