Autoblog UK

The Subaru Hybrid Tourer was the main attraction on the company's stand at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. The PR people had even worked out a catchy slogan for it: "Take a Moment to Free Your Mind." Subaru envisage the Hybrid Tourer as a new approach to designing the Grand Tourismo vehicles of tomorrow, which will need to combine the two virtues of reliability and eco-friendliness in equal measure. In the case of this concept tourer, the Japanese manufacturer has gone for a two-engine hybrid system, with a motor under the bonnet busy generating electricity and powering the front wheels while another electric motor at the back drives the rear axle. Particularly eye-catching are two gull-wing doors providing easy access to the four individual seats. Large expanses of glass give an impression of airy spaciousness in the cabin of this 4.63-metre-long vehicle.

The Tokyo Motor Show has always been different from the rest. This applies to the vehicles on parade and to the visitors in equal measure. Basically, the Japanese and the Europeans have divergent tastes. They read manga comics (by preference to Donald Duck), are mad about electronic gadgetry and drive cars that we would consider shoe boxes on wheels.

This became clear from the concept cars exhibited by the national automotive industry, which effectively turned it into a design Disneyland. There was hardly a serious idea on display with any future prospect of realisation. The Toyota FT-86 will certainly grace the landscape as the next generation Celica. But virtually all the other show models have no chance at all of ever making it onto the road.

At the IAA in Frankfurt, Honda were prominent by their absence. Now, at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Japanese carmaker seems determined to compensate in full. They have the biggest stand of all the exhibitors and have filled it up with an array of design studies that are brimful of new ideas, albeit eccentric in part. One of the design highlights of the show is bound to be the Honda Skydeck Concept. This futuristic, airily named family van is clearly a long way removed from being a production-ready vehicle, yet it arouses more than just passing interest. With its windscreen blending into a glass roof, driver and passengers have an impression of unconstrained freedom. The seating too has been designed with leisure in mind. The front doors open upwards and the rear doors slide backwards. In other words, they're doors, Jim, but not as we know them. There is no B-pillar to impede ingress. And if you prefer to sit in the third row, you can push the second bench under the front seat. Under the bonnet, a hybrid PLUS engine provides an eco-friendly drive.

Visitors to the Tokyo Motor Show can admire a prototype of the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car that is claimed to be ready for series production, though whether this gleaming white vision ever makes it onto the road is anyone's guess. For the present, at least, Honda are once again showcasing the sporty hybrid model just as a design study. So will they or won't they? Honda have the biggest stand of all the manufacturers exhibiting at the Tokyo Motor Show. It would be a pity if they were merely using the CR-Z to fill up what would otherwise have been an empty space.

The car being launched at the Tokyo Motor Show as the Nissan Fuga will be arriving in Europe as the Infiniti M. There is a very simple reason for this: Nissan's high-end Infiniti marque is unknown on the Japanese market. But it is only on closer inspection that you detect European aspects to the new Fuga flagship model. This five-metre-long saloon vehicle, available either with six-cylinder engine or hybrid drive, is bound to be a highlight of the show. Once again, the reason is simple: because all foreign manufacturers with the exception of niche constructors Lotus and Caterham (UK) and BMW tuner Alpina have decided to sit this one out, the Japanese have virtually no competition at the show. Never before have they had such an easy home fixture.

We continue with our presentation of the stars of the Tokyo Motor Show. However, the ones shown here are not called Toyota, Subaru or Kia but answer to the names of Shinichi, Yusaku, Heiji and Kaito, to mention just a few of the charming hostesses.

Five weeks after the IAA in Frankfurt, Tokyo is laying on a show of gleaming bodywork – both automotive and female. Best to let the photos speak for themselves.

The Lexus LFA is to make its long-awaited debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. Built by Toyota's luxury subsidiary Lexus, the LFA is intended to set a new benchmark for Japanese super sports cars. In Japan, of course, the main competitor is Nissan, but in Europe, they plan to cock a snook at the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini. The LFA has been ten years in the making. The result is a supercar powered by a high-revving 4.8L V10 engine capable of delivering 540 horsepower and a top speed of 200mph (325 km/h). Particularly impressive is its performance over the 0 to 62mph sprint – a mere 3.7 seconds. The production run will extend to only 500 units and purchasers will need to be patient, because only 20 of these hand-built cars will leave the factory gates each month. The LFA weighs in at just 1,480 kilos and has a price tag of 375,000 euros.

The Lotus Exige has developed a certain cult status amongst a dedicated fan base because it transfers the technology of the racetrack to the ordinary highway. In the new Lotus special edition Exige Scura, the British constructor has shown that its cars also have a wicked streak. Only 35 Scuras are to be built. They will have a matt black finish with glossy black go-faster stripes down the side. The visual impression is further accentuated by components made of dark carbon fibre. This diminutive yet aggressive-looking Lotus is powered by a 260bhp engine capable of propelling the less than one-tonne lightweight from 0 to 62mph in 4.1 seconds. The vehicle is beautiful in a spine-chilling sort of way and is sure to raise a few goose pimples at the forthcoming Tokyo Motor Show.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, local carmaker Mitsubishi will be presenting an SUV prototype with a revolutionary hybrid engine/motor that they claim is capable of beating the psychological 2 litres per 100km threshold. The PX-MiEV concept is powered by a newly developed plug-in hybrid system capable of delivering over 140 miles to the gallon. The vehicle combines the best of modern drive technology with superb road dynamics. The latter are provided by the new Mitsubishi S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) four-wheel drive system plus E-AYC (Electric-Powered Active Yaw Control) drive function which ensures the variable distribution of drive torque between left and right-hand side of the vehicle.