Tokyo Motor Show - Toyota

What's the story on Toyota's stand?
As befits the largest Japanese manufacturer at its domestic motor show, you couldn’t move for concept cars on Toyota’s display. It had five show specials, of varying degrees of madness.

Strangest car?
The i-swing concept is, according to Toyota’s description, 'wearable like an item of clothing'.

When used on busy streets, the personal mobility device ‘wheelies’ up on two wheels to take up less space. At higher speeds, it reverts to tricycle-style three wheels.

We can’t help feeling that pedestrians might be better off walking or getting on a good old-fashioned bicycle.

Loudest car?
That’ll be the bB, a concept vehicle which puts a nightclub in your car. Based on a chunky minivan, it is specially shaped to provide decent acoustics and the front seat has a laidback position for music lovers to chill out when not driving.

Cleanest car?
The Fine-X is a demonstration of Toyota’s clean hydrogen fuel-cell know-how – wrapped in a high-tech body.

Funky gullwing doors rise up and individual seats spin to make it a cinch to climb in and out, while the Fine-X has wheels that can turn at right angles, making it possible for the car to turn around on the spot.

Sanest concept?
The least extreme of Toyota’s concept cars is the FSC (standing for Flexible Saloon Concept). It’s Toyota’s vision of a new type of family car; a melding of saloon and people-carrier.

Officials denied it was the next Avensis, but that gives you the flavour of the FSC.

Anything I’ll be able to buy soon?
The only new production car coming to the UK was the Toyota RAV4 off-roader. This new model will replace one of Britain’s favourite small 4x4s when it arrives next spring. There was also an Estima petrol-electric hybrid concept, but this Japanese-market Previa MPV will not be sold in the UK.