TFL Car Chat Nov 3, 2025

Ep. 309: Is The New Toyota Land Cruiser FJ The Newest Forbidden Fruit?

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Car

Toyota Land

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough SUV that can handle rough terrains and is built to last. It's popular among people who like to go off-road and explore nature.

Car

The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a tough SUV that looks a bit like old-fashioned cars but is built for off-roading. People who like to explore the outdoors often love this car because it can handle rough trails.

Car

Suzuki Jimny

The Suzuki Jimny is a small SUV that's great for off-roading. It has a unique boxy shape and is very maneuverable, making it fun to drive in rough areas.

Car

Jeep Renegade

The Jeep Renegade is a small SUV from Jeep that can handle off-road conditions. It has a modern look and is fun to drive around town or on trails.

Part

snorkel

A snorkel is a pipe that brings air into the engine from above the vehicle. It's helpful for off-road driving, especially in muddy or dusty conditions, to keep the engine running smoothly.

Car

Toyota Fortuner

The Toyota Fortuner is an SUV that shares its design with the Hilux truck. It's great for families and can also go off-road.

Car

Toyota Hilux

Part

plastic bumper

A plastic bumper is the part of a car that helps protect it from minor accidents. It's made of plastic and is designed to absorb hits without causing too much damage to the car.

Part

beefier tire

A beefier tire means a thicker or wider tire that can handle rougher roads better. It helps the car grip the ground more firmly, especially in tough conditions.

Term

265/65R17

This is a way to describe the size of a tire. The first number is how wide the tire is, the second number tells you how tall the tire's side is compared to its width, and the last part shows the size of the wheel it fits.

Term

31-inch tall tire

This is how tall the tire is when it's fully inflated. It's important because it affects how the car handles and how fast it can go.

Term

6-lug

This means there are six holes where the wheel attaches to the car. More holes usually mean the wheel is stronger and can handle heavier vehicles.

Part

ARB step/rock rail

An ARB step or rock rail is a metal bar attached to the side of off-road vehicles. It protects the vehicle from rocks and helps you get in and out more easily.

Part

ARB roof rack

An ARB roof rack is a platform on top of a vehicle where you can carry extra stuff like luggage or camping gear. It's especially useful for off-road trips.

Car

Toyota RAV4

The Toyota RAV4 is a smaller SUV that's good for everyday driving and family use. It's popular because it's reliable and has a lot of space inside.

Car

Toyota 4Runner

Term

off-roader

An off-roader is a type of vehicle that can drive on rough roads or trails, not just regular streets. They are built to handle bumps, rocks, and dirt.

Term

locker

A locker helps both wheels on the same axle move together, which is great for driving on rough surfaces. It makes it easier to get through tough spots like mud or rocks.

Term

low-range

Low-range gearing helps the vehicle move slowly but with a lot of power. It's useful for driving on steep hills or rough paths where you need more control.

Term

body on frame

Body-on-frame means that the main structure of the vehicle is built like a truck, with a strong frame underneath that supports the body. This makes it tougher for off-road driving.

Term

independent front suspension

Independent front suspension means that each front wheel can move up and down separately. This helps the car handle bumps better and makes the ride smoother.

Term

solid rear axle

A solid rear axle means that the two back wheels are connected by a single piece. This makes the vehicle stronger and better for off-roading.

Car

Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma is a small truck that is great for off-roading and is very reliable. Many people use it for work or outdoor activities.

Term

four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive means that power goes to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better, especially in tough driving conditions like snow or mud.

Term

locking rear differential

A locking rear differential helps both back wheels turn together, which is useful when driving on bumpy or slippery ground to avoid getting stuck.

Term

adaptive cruise control

Adaptive cruise control helps your car keep a safe distance from the car ahead by automatically slowing down or speeding up. It's a helpful feature for long drives.

Car

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people buy because it's known to last a long time and doesn't use much gas. It's popular around the world, which means lots of people trust it for getting around without spending too much money.

Term

naturally aspirated

A naturally aspirated engine gets air into it just from the outside air, without any extra help from a turbo or supercharger. This can make the engine feel more responsive when you press the gas pedal.

Car

Lexus LFA

The Lexus LFA is a really fancy sports car that was made in limited numbers, meaning there aren't many of them out there. It's famous for being super fast and sounding amazing when it drives.

Car

Ford Model T

The Ford Model T is one of the first cars that regular people could afford, and it changed how cars were made. It was built in a way that made it cheaper and faster to produce, which helped more families own cars.

Concept

K-Car

K-Cars are tiny cars in Japan that are cheaper to own because they have smaller engines and take up less space. They are great for city driving where parking is hard to find.

Car

Daihatsu Move

The Daihatsu Move is a small car that's very practical and efficient, often used in cities. It's part of a category of cars in Japan called K cars, which are designed to be lightweight and easy to drive.

Car

Toyota LFA

The Toyota LFA is a special sports car made by Toyota. It's famous for its powerful engine and unique design, and not many were made, which makes it very valuable.

Car

Hey guys, welcome to Tokyo Japan, to the Tokyo Mobility Show, and today's episode, podcast

slash video is very special because we're going to be showing you the latest and greatest

vehicles here in the Toyota slash Century slash Lexus booth, starting with this tummy.

What is this?

Well, this is a car I was so critical about when I saw the images, and now that I've

kind of had to poke and prod around it, I'm really excited.

So what we're looking at here is a Toyota Land Cruiser, and this is a model called the

Land Cruiser FJ.

And Dad, if someone is listening to this podcast and not watching it on YouTube, describe

the look of this little Land Cruiser.

You know, it looks like, if you know the Suzuki Jimny, it looks like the Suzuki Jimny

that went to the gym and bulked up.

Or a Renegade, like a Jeep Renegade that kind of...

That went to the gym and bulked up.

Yeah, I mean, it's got some kind of funky Lego-like proportions, but when you see it

in person, there's a lot to really like here.

There's a lot of great hardware, I think, on this Land Cruiser that I would love if

it came to the U.S.

But Dad, this thing is not slated to come to America, right?

You know, I'm hoping it does come to America.

Toyota has not said so, but I fear you might be right.

This may be something that, unfortunately, will not see our North American shores, but

it should, because it is the right size, I believe, the right cost and the right build

for America, Canada, hell, all of North America.

Now, let's start with this one, the most off-roading one, because this, unlike many

of the cars here at the Tokyo Auto Show, mobility show, is not a concept.

They're actually building this so they're going to sell it.

And what impresses me from the get-go is, look, we've got a snorkel.

Yeah, exactly right.

This is kind of a pint-sized off-roader.

So it's quite a bit smaller than the 250-series Land Cruiser that we get in the U.S.

Our buddy James actually went ahead and did a bunch of crunching of the numbers for us.

It's pretty much the same size as an FJ Cruiser, but it's got four real doors, and it's quite

narrow in person.

Now, from the sleuthing I've done, which is a little tricky because it's all in Japanese

and I have to translate, this is based on the IMV architecture, which is the underpinning

of the Toyota Hilux, the Toyota Fortuner.

I think, if I remember correctly, so it's a longitudinal body-on-frame architecture

with a solid rack.

It's none of which we get.

No, we don't get the Hilux, that's right.

But let's kind of keep going with the tour.

Now, the most controversial thing that a lot of comments were made on our offer video is

this front bumper.

This is a lot of plastic.

Well, it's a lot of plastic, but let me show you something.

Yesterday when we did our first video on this, they had that one, which has, I can show

them the headlights.

So the blue one has, well, there's a guy there right now, of course, you're looking at kind

of square headlights, basically, a U-shaped turn sideways.

But this one, just like the Land Cruiser that we get, has also the round lights, which are

more iconic, let's face it, for a Land Cruiser.

So you can spec it, like you said, dad, both ways, with square or round.

This is the way to get it, though, the round headlights, I think, kind of help with some

of the cartoony proportions, and especially with this bumper, which is also different.

Now, this is...

It's a big underbite.

This is a big old chin right here, folks.

It's a massive plastic bumper that leads right into these big, kind of cladded arches that

make our way down the side of the vehicle.

But like I said, folks, in pictures, it looks kind of goofy.

In person, I think it actually looks pretty rad.

Yeah, it looks much better in person.

I also like the fact that this one has a little bit beefier tire on it, so this is an open

country from Toyo, of course.

Let's see the sizing on this.

I believe it's a 26560R18.

Oh, no, that's on the street going one.

This is a 26565R17.

So this is like a 31-ish inch tall tire, if my numbers are correct.

It looks a lot more beefy.

Can you see this, too?

What?

It's a 6-lug.

Wow.

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

Interesting, 6-lug.

And then to the left of it, you've got an ARB step slash rock rail, actually.

Yeah, very cool.

This has some real off-road cred.

On top is the ARB roof rack.

So Toyota has certainly thought about taking this off-road, and if we go around the back,

I actually think the back looks better in the front.

Yeah, so it's got this very futuristic black panel.

So it's a perfectly vertical fall-off with this black panel slash glass portion that

hides some of the proportions.

And I like the blue one.

This is actually, I don't think, a spare tire.

I think that's a full-size spare.

Yeah, the blue one, I think, had a temp spare, maybe?

Yeah, we'll go down there and show them the interior in a second.

And then this also has this kind of ruggedized finish on the bumper.

Yeah, I like that.

That's really cool.

Yeah, and then, like, this is the most futuristic angle, this kind of rear-sweep quarter.

It's got a little bit of a boat-tail taper along the side here, and then same thing on

the roof.

So it's very flat, and they're right at the back, kind of falls off a little bit.

Full LED tail lights.

They're kind of binnacles that are stuck on.

I kind of like it.

The problem that we have in America right now is that if you go in the Toyota lineup, at

least, underneath the 4Runner, you get to the RAV4.

And the RAV4 Woodland is basically a soft rotor, and this could live in that space as

a real off-roader, right?

No one's going to take the Woodland to Moab and do Vincent things to help prevent you.

We just tear it apart.

But this could do it.

Yeah.

Because it's got a locker.

Yeah, right.

And it's got a real...

Body and frame.

It's got a real low-range as well.

And a couple of the design cues, which are very reminiscent of other Land Cruisers that

we see, for say, on other markets, is, for example, this window line with the little kick

up here at the rear end.

And I like this D-pillar, how it's all chunky and squared off.

So I was really critical about this car when I first saw it.

And if you guys are listening to this as a podcast, the color is pretty cool.

It's kind of a metallic green, almost zinky color.

Yeah, it's something I haven't really seen before.

Now, when we look at the actual platform, this is, as you mentioned, dead body on frame.

I put the camera underneath there.

This has got a much beefier skid plate by ARB, so they've done a lot of little ARB goodies

on this.

Recovery points, independent front suspension, and then it does have a solid rear out back.

So there is some actual off-road tech.

So the problem that I have with the Renegade is it looks pretty chunky and frail-ready,

but the Renegade is kind of a fiat with some cladding on it, where this is actually a high

looks underneath that has got some real capability.

Well, I was looking over there and I was going to go jump in the interior while there's somebody

not sitting in it and show them the inside of it, because this blue one is actually open.

This green one is not open, but here we have one that we can jump into and show what it

looks like inside.

Yeah, here, we can try to make our way in there.

Let's see.

Well, maybe, I think we can go, oh, he's cleaning off the door handle here.

So let's see if we can go inside and show them the interior.

There you go, Tommy.

Thank you, Dad.

Yeah, so let's take a peek in here.

Now, there's a lot of things that are going to be familiar to you if you're a Toyota fan.

So stuff like the infotainment screen, it's pretty much the same as you're going to find

in a forerunner or a Tacoma.

Same thing with the shifter.

Same thing with the overall dash and vent design, right?

It's all very familiar to those who are fans of current Toyota products, but there are

a couple of things in here which are very unique.

For example, it does have your four-wheel drive selector with a low-range and a locking

rear differential.

That is super cool.

And it's not a full-time four-wheel drive.

It is a part-time four-wheel drive.

Huge, huge amounts of headroom in this little box.

Legroom is OK.

The one thing I will say is it's very narrow in here.

So there's not a lot of shoulder room to work with inside this baby Land Cruiser.

So it's quite a long, it's very, very tall, but it's not super wide, which kind of makes

sense for Japanese streets, right?

You don't want these super wide machines.

And then you can see the thing, one more time, Dad.

Very squared-off steering wheel, right, with all your safety gear.

It does have adaptive cruise control, lane-centering, all that's going to be familiar.

And then this is pretty luxurious.

Heated windshield.

I think that's what that is, or heated windshield wipers.

Heated seats, dual-zone automatic climate control.

So there's still quite a few luxury features in here.

It's not as basic and stripped down as I think a lot of us were expecting.

Yeah, you were sitting in the back while we got it to show how much room there is back

here because it is pretty roomy, actually.

I forgot to thank you.

Yeah, let's check out the back here.

Yeah, have a seat in the back.

Show them how big it is.

Hey, it's Omar from Omar Drive.

Sorry, dude.

Hey, Omar.

How are you doing, dude?

So good leg room over here.

Really good headroom.

Like I said, the only thing that's a little limiting is just how narrow it is.

I mean, it is a five-seater, but this middle seat person is going to be incredibly uncomfortable.

So this is kind of like 20% smaller back here than I'd say a 400.

I like the fact that there are grab handles on all four seats.

And back here, this guy's about to open it, so let's show him the inside.

So it's actually pretty roomy in the way back here, Tommy.

Yeah.

I mean, we've got enough room for a decent set of luggage.

If you wanted to put a bike in there, you could probably take it apart, but you could

certainly do it.

The seats fold.

It's a good room.

And you can see the difference between the off-roading one here.

It's just plastic on the top of the bumper.

Yeah, normal black plastic.

You can see it does have some recline to those seats.

You can see it's a pretty much a 50-50 split with that weird little awkward center seat.

This one doesn't have a sunroof in it, but yeah, what I like about this trunk area is

it's perfectly square.

It's kind of like a box, right?

There's no curves or weird.

Yeah, if you're listening to this as a podcast, think about it as a box with rounded off corners.

It's true.

Sorry, Omar.

And then looking underneath, there's your quick look at the solid rear axle, right?

You can see your dampers coming through there.

It's a multi-link rear suspension.

So I think I was expecting this to be a lot more basic and stripped down.

And a lot of markets, Toyota does sell like a sub-$20,000 truck, which is incredibly

no-nonsense built for work.

This does feel still like a fairly premium item, especially with this one that has the

soft-tech seats, the big screens, the heated seats.

Well, let's finish up by talking what's under the hood.

Maybe we can go back up here because we're going to hit the Corolla next.

Yeah.

So let's talk about under the hood.

Under the hood, as you would expect, it's a four-cylinder.

Yeah, but it's not the 2.4 turbo that we get in the US.

This is a naturally aspirated 2.7, which I think is related to the old 2.7 we got in

the third-gen Tacoma, and it's been for sale for about 400 years.

I think the specs on it are 160, 180 horsepower, somewhere in that territory, conventional

automatic transmission, no diesel, and most interestingly, no hybrid.

I would say, and I hate to say this because I don't want to throw cold water on you, Tommy,

but wherever you can get the high-lux, you can probably get this.

Yeah, I think that's probably a good bet.

So far, I believe it's only Japan market, but that's definitely going to expand if I

had to use my crystal ball.

All right, well, let's go over here to the next most interesting vehicle here, at least

at the Toyota stand, and that is the concept for the Toyota Corolla, and this looks nothing

like a Corolla, Tommy.

It barely looks like a Lexus, let alone a Corolla.

Yeah, so the Corollas are the best-selling car in the world.

Let's go around and we'll pick it up, and this has a lot of people around it, of course,

because the Corolla has sold more vehicles than, like you said, any other brand.

People think it's the Volkswagen Beetle, but it's really the Corolla, and it's been around

the longest.

And what we've seen here, at least in Toyota, is kind of wider, swoopier, more interesting,

and then the powertrain here is anything you want it to be.

Yeah, so Toyota is saying that they're going to put everything.

So we're talking Lexus hybrid, or sorry, Lexus hybrid, electric hybrid, plug-in hybrid.

But you're right, I mean, Toyota has been known for a lot of things over the years.

Being exciting to look at is not one of them.

This is definitely exciting to look at, though.

It's low, it's wide, it's very sporty.

Can I show you the most interesting thing?

If you look at the interior, you'll notice that the driver's seat and the passenger's

seat are different.

I've never seen that before, and the idea there is the driver needs more lateral support

because he's driving or she's driving, whereas the passenger needs more comfort and luxury,

and so they've designed two different seats for both the driver and the passenger, which

is unusual and interesting, and the gear selector is way cool.

Maybe you could show them that if this gentleman pops out of there.

Oh, he's going to be a companion, and he's not.

Yeah, so the gear selector, here I got a good zoom there, that is a little glass version

of the car itself.

Now this is a very open concept floor plan, they would say this was a house, but you kind

of get a good sense of what that looks like.

So first of all, that steering wheel, not a yoke, and it's got this little gauge cluster

from a fighter jet that faces the driver, and then it's got a very open airy dash design

with no central screen, but a screen over here on the passenger side, a totally flat

floor, you get this kind of center column that juts out from the floor where you find

your gear selector, there's your center console, and then my dad was talking about those two

different seat designs, both gray and white, so a couple of different seat textures and

materials there.

Yeah, and the other thing that's interesting about it, Tommy, is also the back seat, which

you know, they've paid a lot of attention to the use of materials, the use of interesting

colors, there's just a lot of cool, cool stuff, and I gotta tell you, my favorite part is

actually the back end, with this little duck tail spoiler, and this wraparound rear taillight,

you know, taillights that have gone across the entire back of cars have become a thing,

this one keeps going to the side of the car.

Yeah, it's got a little bit of LFA in it too, but I love this kind of honk that makes

a very aggressive angle as it transitions from side to rear profile.

And this cute little back tail, how cute is that, huh?

Yeah, it's really, really interesting, so lots of very cool textures and designs that

we just have not seen on Corolla's in the past.

I mean, this looks like it could be a Lexus, it looks like it could be a sports car, it

does not look like it should be an affordable Corolla.

What have you got on my hand right now?

What you got there?

I got a, let me fix that for you, I got a big bucket of cold water.

Why?

Because you know where this is going to end up?

Where?

In China.

Yeah.

Yeah, this is not, you know, our Corolla is so far from this.

Yeah, but every Corolla is so far from this.

I have no idea what the Chinese Corolla looks like.

Not like this.

Okay.

No Corolla, no Corolla's 21-inch wheels to start with them.

Let me fix your mic here, it's just problematic.

Hmm.

All right.

I think it'll be okay.

Yeah, we're good.

All right, it's on your lanyard, so be careful.

Let's get head over to the next interesting thing and this is, imagine a truck with only

bed.

Yeah, so it kind of looks like something you would see at a factory.

This is a, it's called the Toyota IMV concept and it's built for developing countries like

Africa, the IMV origin.

And what this is is essentially a flat deck with wheels and a steering wheel.

Very, very interesting.

So if you watch Grand Tour, there was an episode where they went, I think, Mongolia and they

helicoptered a big box down for them and they had to build their own little car.

Yeah.

This is kind of, this is kind of what that is if it were not a car but a truck.

So what we have is, like I say, all bed and then I think you could put the steering wheel

on either side, it looks like.

So you could put it on the left or on the right.

There's a one driver specification.

It's electric, of course, and it's front wheel drive, but the tires are very off-roading.

Yeah.

I mean, it's such a cool idea, right?

They say it's 70% finished and like you said, you could put a cab on here.

You could put a bed on here if you wanted to carry flowers.

You could build a little camper back here, whatever you wanted, whatever your use case.

And then throughout the machine, we're going to see rails down the side to pick it up, to

tie things down with.

It's got rock rails, it's got some real ground clearance to tackle rough roads.

It's a very cool idea.

Yeah.

So if you're, let's say, delivering coffee beans or medical supplies or food, whatever,

in the most remote parts of the world.

And this would be something that you would purchase.

It would come in a big old crate and then you would build it to your specifications like

the last 70%.

Now, I've heard, I was talking to somebody and they said the Model T came that way, too.

It came in a crate at some point and then you'd use the parts of the crate that they

actually finished the Model T back in the day.

I don't know if that's true.

Somebody was telling that to me.

Let me know.

Feel free to fact check me.

I did not fact check that.

But yeah, I really like this concept of mean, obviously, something more probably unlikely

to see in the United States, but for markets around the globe that need really, really cheap,

really, really durable, no nonsense transport that's basically four wheels and most of a

seat, this is what that's for.

Yeah.

I would say that this is kind of the next iteration of the K truck, right?

Like the Honda Acti from back in the day.

And this is the most practical version of that.

Like I said, if you wanted to create a vehicle that is all platform or all bed, then this

is it.

Do you like the color combination orange again?

Orange is hot.

We'll see more orange as we just walk around.

Yeah.

I mean, I think orange is kind of the new black literally right now.

We're seeing iPhones coming orange and certainly Toyota is bringing a lot of orange to the

table.

Hey, let's walk over here to the Hatsu because we haven't really done much with the Hatsu,

but they do have some interesting vehicles.

And of course the Hatsu is also I think either partially or totally owned by Toyota.

Yeah.

What do you think of this little delivery vehicle?

So Toyota is actually breaking up into a number of different brands or I should say broken

up.

You've got Daihatsu at the bottom.

You've got Toyota, which is their mainstream brand.

You've got Lexus, which is their premium brand.

GR now is its own sport brand.

And then we've got Sentry, which we'll talk about in a second.

Is this the Midget?

Is that what we're looking at?

I think this is the original Midget.

It looks almost like the, what's the Italian delivery little three-wheeler?

The Ape.

Ape.

So it looks like the Japanese version of the Ape, which is Ape Italian.

Here in Japan, there's a classification of vehicle called the K-Car, which is an ultra-lightweight,

ultra-small, ultra-low-powered vehicle, which is low taxes.

You don't need to prove you have a parking space for it.

It's much easier to maneuver.

And that's kind of what the Hatsu specializes in.

So if we come on over here to this gray car, this is a K-Car.

So it's very small.

It's very lightweight.

But it's also incredibly well engineered.

You want to show the doors on these cars?

Yeah.

They're sliding, of course.

So stand next to it.

Let's show them how tiny, tiny, tiny this thing is.

Look how tiny this is.

But if I get into it, Tommy, look how much room I have.

It's just, you know, it's amazing use of room.

Look at this.

I have tons of headroom.

I have tons of knee room.

I have more room in here than I do in most second rows of most American cars.

Yeah, because they're absolutely brilliant pieces of packaging.

Now these are limited to 660 cc, if I remember correctly.

So this is likely a two or three cylinder, maybe a turbo.

But they're ultra lightweight, ultra practical.

This has got a front row bench in it.

It's got a screen.

Like it still has some modern amenities, but it's very cool on how it works.

And then coming around to the back of this thing, there you can see it's called the Daihatsu

Move.

This is how little I know about the move.

I got to look at the badge.

But these cars, not sold in the U.S., unlikely to ever be sold.

But what's cool about K cars is they're not only little practical boxes.

Over here are the sports car versions.

Yeah, you know, the thing about K cars is in Tokyo, if you want to buy a car, you have

to have a parking space for it unless you get a K car, in which case you don't.

And this is the Daihatsu K Open.

A Copen.

I know.

But look, it's K Open.

But I think that's a plan word.

K car open.

I think this is actually the newest version of it.

As you know, when we were here about a year ago, no, in the spring, right, we actually

got to drive an older version of this.

But this is the newest version.

It's pretty darn cool, Tommy.

I think this is the old one we actually drove right here.

This is the exact car.

Yeah.

Oh, look at this one.

It's missing an engine.

I wonder if this is like an electric.

Oh, no, it has an engine.

Oh, my God, it's tiny.

It's way down there.

Wow, that's incredible.

Wow, look how low and kind of sucked down that little engine.

This is the original one, and there's a new variant of it.

Yeah, exactly.

So this has been for sale for a while.

That's the new version.

But they also do other little kind of fun concepts here at the Daihatsu stand.

Like, look at this.

We got this little itty bitty van.

So, Daihatsu is just their fun, quirky, affordable brand here in Japan.

They will never, actually, they tried selling them in America, do you remember?

Yeah, do you think we should go up there and give them a better look?

Are you worried about it?

Yeah, I don't think people care that much about the Cope and Den.

All right.

Well, we'll keep going.

There's a lot more.

Let's show you hit Lexus.

Yeah.

All right.

Lexus has a lot to show.

And actually, see this up here?

So, Lexus has a strategy of being now a complete lifestyle brand, including aircraft, boats,

houses, and of course, cars.

So I actually did a video on this, the Joby, they partnered with a company called Joby,

which builds these, they can see Joby, which builds these drone-like, what would you call

this?

It's like a drone helicopter thing.

Yeah, where you can lift straight up and then you go vertical takeoff vehicles.

But anyway, this is probably more interesting to a lot of people now we're looking at what

is the future LFA, Tommy.

Allegedly.

Allegedly, potentially.

So this is something called the Lexus sports concept.

And what we're looking at here is a low-slung wide two-door front-engined sports car that

does have very LFA-like proportions with a little bit of Maserati sprinkled in there.

So this is a concept that actually debuted back in Monterey, but this is a more finished

variant of what you saw back in California.

Yeah, so they actually have the interior now, and once again you'll note in the interior

the driver and the passenger get very different interiors.

This is a big thing we're seeing, it's a big trend at Tokyo here, are mismatched driver

and passenger seats.

So there you can see that the driver's white, the passenger is kind of this black material.

And sometimes the designs are different as well.

Now when you saw this, it didn't have an interior in it, and now it does, and this is easily

for me the highlight of the car.

And what makes it interesting, of course, and what makes me think this is the next LFA

is that we're here in Japan where people drive on the right, but look at what side the steering

well yoke is on.

Yeah, left, but it looks like a pretty complete interior.

The coolest part is actually these vents in the door, the speaker grills mesh into the

speaker grills on the dash.

They kind of do this cool little mesh thing when they close.

But this is a very, very attractive car.

Show the pedals, they're beautiful.

Yep.

I love that white finish.

Look at the pedals.

Wow.

That's...

Interestingly, only two.

Not a...

No, not a stick.

But you can see like good use of interior lighting, very organic forms and shape inside.

And as we come around to the back, they made a big deal in the design presentation about

the functional arrow.

So all of these little slits serve to keep the car on the ground, to keep things attached

where they need to be.

Do you like the little drone that's sitting up there above that little...

No, this is really dumb.

So a lot of these Lexus concepts have a drone that deploys out the back of the car, so it

will follow you and you can film the outside perspective.

And when you're on the track, not on the road.

So you can see yourself driving on the track.

But some of these you see do have them for the road.

I don't know.

Why would you need that?

Because it's AI and drone everything nowadays.

I do love this car, Tommy.

And if this is the next and future LFA, I think that they're going to do so well with it.

Now I did see this originally in its Toyota form, because there was a Toyota version at

Goodwood and then it came back again with nothing.

They just kind of unveiled it at Pebble Beach.

And now here we have an interior.

And I think this will be or will go into production.

And yeah, it's pretty damn gorgeous except for the stupid yoke and the weird seating.

I would feel weird if my seat were different from my passengers.

Well, you can buy a car like that now.

You can?

What's that?

Can you name it?

Think about it.

There's one car for sale where you can get different color front and back seats.

I don't know.

What is it?

The Lucid Air.

Oh.

Yeah, you can get black and white.

But this isn't just colors.

This is like shapes.

But I think this one is colors.

Yeah, the Corolla was different shapes.

Now a couple of cool design cues we're seeing across a lot of these modern Lexus' is very

square light signature in the back.

It's not just a light bar.

It extends on these blades on either side of the car.

And then just like the original LFA that had those triple exhaust pipes in the diffuser,

a lot of these Lexus concepts now have a center mounted stoplight that's also kind of that

triangular shape.

It's very, very funky looking.

There is one thing I hate about these cars.

What's that?

Most of the new concepts we're seeing and even some of the production cars.

That's cool.

Even some of the production cars we're seeing don't have a rear window.

So Polestar started this with the four.

Getting rid of rear windows.

I hate that.

I'm with you on that.

And we'll see more of that now.

There's something cool.

And this probably will not make it a production.

So you've got this mirror outside of your mirror, right?

Yeah.

And underneath it is like a little L shaped bracket.

That is actually a functional arrow piece of design that routes air over it and into

the little hole behind that little window and then out in the back here.

That's cool.

Yeah, but I don't think that's going to make production.

So.

Just don't see that.

We'll learn more about the production version of this car.

December of this year, I think December 5th is when we're supposed to get all the info.

But I just love this design.

I love the haunches and hips.

It's just a gorgeous car.

Yeah.

And I think that Akio Toyota, who of course is the head of the board here, has said no

more boring cars and this certainly isn't boring, Tommy.

Well the car behind us is even less boring.

Even less boring.

Now this is apparently Akio's vision of modern luxury.

It's a six wheel mini van.

So this is called the Lexus LS, which used to stand for what, Tommy?

Luxury sedan.

And I think the luxury sedan, let's just say the sedan is dead.

And so now it's been replaced here in Japan by the van.

And when you think about what luxury means here, being in your own space, ensconced in

luxury and serenity and having a lot of space, which is also luxury here in Japan because

it's such a very crowded city, then space is a premium.

So instead of doing a luxury sedan, why not do a luxury van?

And this certainly expresses that.

The reason it has these two little back wheels instead of big four wheels, you know, it's

got two small ones and two big ones is because the small ones open up more space in the back

for more space for the occupants.

So LS is now standing for luxury space instead of luxury sedan.

So they're re-envisioning what their flagship can be.

And it's interesting, you know, when we think mini vans in the US, we think of Cheerios

and kids in temper tantrums.

But here in Asia, these are incredibly popular as these very high end cars is the only way

I can describe it.

So they have a car here called the Toyota Elfard, which we've actually been driven in a bunch.

It's got these reclining second row seats that slide and massage and heat and cool you.

Lexus actually build currently in Japan, a car called the LM that stands for luxury mover.

That's got these incredible like 50 inch cinema displays in them, crazy fold flat seats.

And then this is now the new expression of what they can do with this van shape.

But the question is that I personally think there's a chance we're going to see the Lexus

LM luxury minivan in America.

This is this is this is just this is a passion project.

Right.

But do you think a luxury van would work in the States because they've blown up in China,

they've blown up in Japan because they're not necessarily built for kids, right?

Van has always been equated with, you know, kids and families and not being kind.

I mean, it's been equated with being demasculated.

Demasculated.

Demand.

What?

What's the word?

Masculating.

Emasculated.

Yeah.

That's what it's been equated to.

And it's hard to take that narrative and change it into something that's luxurious and comfortable

and prestigious.

By the way, what do you think of the spindle grille that's now done in light form instead

of in grille form?

Pretty interesting.

Yeah.

So they got rid of the grille, but they still have the spindle design that they've done

with this LED panel in the front.

This is just a huge vehicle, Tommy.

Well, this is like this is like the front end of a locomotive.

It's that thing.

You say that.

I'm not sure it's actually that big.

Because everything here in Japan looks huge compared to this.

I mean, the reason I say it's big because you can see how much smaller like this next

car that we're going to look at is because of how much these are the same three size

little rotary rotisseries that the cars are sitting on, and this one hangs over both ends

much more.

I want to show them the inside.

Look how luxurious that is.

The seats rotate.

They kind of look like an Aims chair.

So you can see that this design is very driven by this bamboo slit motif.

You see it across the side of the interior.

You see it in the windows, but it's very airy open.

And you can see because it doesn't have conventional four wheels, it's got the four little rear

wheels, the interior volume is positively enormous.

But that second row of seats actually rotates back so you can kind of create a conversation

lounge with people in the third row.

You know where I saw that first?

Where?

EV9.

EV9?

Is it Ionic 9?

What's the minivan?

Carnival?

No, no, no, not the minivan, the three row electric Hyundai or Kia.

EV9 or Ionic 9, but I don't think they rotate.

They did in the concept.

Oh, in the concept.

That's why I saw it first.

Oh, okay.

It was the EV9.

Yeah, interesting.

I saw it at the LA Auto Show.

Never came in the market.

You know, a lot of this stuff will never happen.

But this did happen in the US.

We had rotating seats.

Which van?

The caravan.

Really?

In the town and country, yeah.

If you didn't get stoned, you get it with rotating seats.

These are really flights of fancy in a lot of ways as concepts.

I feel like I'm just drenching you in cold water, but I've been doing this long enough

to know that once again, a yoke, of course, that this is never going to see production.

Not with that attitude.

No, not with that attitude.

It might.

It will not.

Maybe not in the US, but we might.

They have some crazy cars here in Japan and in China then.

You want to show them the back end?

It's like a chest of drawers back here.

Yeah, so it's got this really funky cabinet that kind of extends out.

And then that folds up to close up the rear end.

But I love actually, one of the cool things Lexus is doing here is bringing a lot of wood,

a lot of bamboo into the world.

So we can see the bamboo along the panels on the van by the windows.

We can see it on the trunk.

I think the bamboo.

It's very Asian.

You know, taste in the way that the interiors are designed.

So a lot of the natural materials that are found in Japan also make their way into the

automotive world, which makes sense, right?

So should we go check out the one car I think might actually happen for Americans?

Yeah, this one might be.

Let's kind of come on over to the Lexus LC coupe, or LS coupe, excuse me.

The one thing I would tell you, Tommy, is if you're listening to this as a podcast and

you want to see this, head on over to YouTube and just type in altff.com or go to TFL Talk

on YouTube.

Right.

Yeah, good point.

You can actually see these cars if you really want to see them because it's hard to describe

because they are so different in a lot of ways.

Now this one actually looks a lot like the current Lexus electric crossover.

It's got a little bit of BZ in it.

Yeah.

But what we're looking at here is they call it a coupe.

It's definitely not a coupe.

It's very much a sleek kind of low to the ground crossover.

This is called the LS coupe concept by Lexus.

And this was designed by the Kelty team, which is the Toyota Lexus California design team.

And I think this is the one that's probably the most likely to actually see reality.

Yeah, I agree.

One of the things that, of course, became popular here because Japan has a much more

aging population than we do, are basically tall cars, right?

So they're not quite traditional American SUVs or crossovers, and they're not really

cars in terms of the way that you think of a car.

But imagine like a Toyota Crown, where it's a tall crown.

It's kind of this hybrid between car and crossover, and this very much represents that.

So if you're older and you have a hard time getting in and out of the car, and this already

makes it sound lame, I get that.

But that is thinking.

It's much easier for entry and exit.

Yeah.

No, I think that's probably a pretty good description.

It's very sleek though, right?

And that spindle grille has been replaced on a lot of these cars by these spindle light

patterns.

So on either side of the car, it makes that little V where the string would go if you

were operating a spindle.

And then I like, I really do like this new Lexus badge that they're bringing out and

everything, which is just the word Lexus spelled out.

It is illuminated on the front end of this.

And you'll note that there's no holes in this front grille, so it's probably all electric.

Yeah, they haven't talked at all about powertrains here.

It's now electrified.

Anything is a dirty word, of course, especially in America, so they're not talking about it.

But you've got these doors that like double clam shells, right, that open up in both directions.

And then once again, use some really interesting materials.

The cool thing about this one is make it even easier to get in and out of.

You'll note that the right side bolster on the passenger, the one near the door, actually

retracts into the seat so that you can get your butt in there and then it comes back up.

That's cool.

Isn't that cool?

I was talking to everybody on Car-ish.

Why don't we have more cars with wooden floors?

There you go.

Because carpas get dirty.

Look at that.

They listen to me.

Well, it's only wood in the back.

Look in the front.

Yeah, well, they haven't quite got the whole thing done.

I'm so tired of yolks and no door handles.

What do you mean you're tired of no door handles?

I'm just tired of it.

And the other cool thing about this car are the wheels.

They actually light up.

Yeah, did you see what's cool about them, though?

That they light up.

No, no, there's another thing that's cool.

It's actually a carbon fiber skeleton within, there you go, you can see it on the camera,

within like an aero blade cover.

So when you drive along under a certain light, you can see the skeleton, the spider of the

carbon fiber has been around.

And then you write about the built-in lights.

And then once again.

That's what happens when you curve that.

Oh, God.

It'd be horrible.

And then once again, mismatching driver and passenger seats.

A really big thing that Lexus and Toyota are doing.

Of course, if you look at the back, you can see speakers in the back headrest.

That's also becoming big now.

So this is another concept.

I really like the look of this.

I think Ian and his design team at Calty did a great job.

This is another car that has this kind of funky drawer system.

So it doesn't have a conventional hatch.

Instead, the whole butt of the car pulls out a little bit like the Lucid Air, actually.

It extends outward and then that's where your stuff goes.

Yeah, talk about a high lift over, though.

Yeah.

And then I don't think you're going to be able to see it.

Another drone stuck in the inside.

Another drone.

So there's actually a little landing strip there inside the rear glass for the drone to land.

But you can see there's that little triangular light in the back.

Similar to the LFA exhaust, right?

They're continuing that.

As a whole, I think they knocked this design out of the park.

And it's the only one that seems like it might make it into reality.

I mean, if this were a military car, that drone would be cool, right?

Because you can use it to situational awareness.

Exactly.

Yeah, exactly right.

But I'm not sure taking the kids to school.

The drone's going to be a realistically useful item.

All right, let's look at the goofiest thing here.

I'm sorry, I hate this thing.

Goofiest?

I hate this thing, Tommy.

This is also designed by Calty.

I hate this.

Really, I hate this.

So what this is, is a personal mobility pod.

Yeah, whenever you use the word mobility, I'm tapping out immediately.

So mobility, to me, just sounds like one of those Woody Allen pods from Sleeper.

That's an old reference to a movie.

But it takes all the stuff I love about a car.

The fact that you can drive it.

This is autonomous.

The fact that you can use it as a performance vehicle.

This gets you around town.

The fact that, you know, it's beautiful.

This is, I don't know what the hell this is.

I really don't like this.

It is cool looking.

No, it's not.

It looks like a suitcase.

I'm also with you.

I don't love pod vehicles.

I also hate three wheels.

There's no pothole you'll ever miss.

But this is funky.

And look at the rear taillights.

Imagine you're going down the road, and that's what you see in front of you.

It's like something out of a tron.

That'd be awesome.

First of all, you can't see out the sides, so you'd be terrified.

Well, it's autonomous.

Well, you can't see out the sides.

You still want to see.

Well, the computer's going to see out the side.

Well, you want to see what's going.

You don't need to see the accident.

If the accident happens.

I'm car spotting.

I'm going through Tokyo.

I'm looking at all the crazy cool cars here.

And you can't see out the side of this thing.

So it was interesting actually talking to Ian.

He loves it.

The whole purpose of this.

You're going to have Kelty.

Yeah, the whole purpose of this was to design a not car.

So he told his team to design something that doesn't look like a car, right?

He wanted them to throw away the rule book.

And this does.

They only think it's missing that I hate is a yoke.

It doesn't need a yoke because it's autonomous.

You know this thing runs in your eyes?

Does it?

Yeah, it actually has it's got rear wheel steering.

Although I also don't love it, but I do appreciate they're trying something totally new.

I imagine taking one of those, you know, pieces of luggage that you take on the plane

to put in the overhead compartment, a roller board, a parion, a roller board,

and putting a little vase in it and some funky lights and some bamboo.

That's what you got here.

And then staffing two suitcases on the side and hiding the wheels.

That thing is funky.

Well, let's check out the last thing that Lexus has been up to.

Yeah, a catamaran.

They're also building boats now apparently or designing them.

So this is a Lexus designed catamaran.

Clearly it's just a concept because it's a little too small to really get comfortable on.

But it is a beautiful kind of work of art.

I don't know if Lexus should be designing boats, but they've designed a cool one.

Yeah, I don't know, you know, yachts or a thing.

Imagine if this is what I want to do with this.

Maybe they'll give it to me and I can make it remote control

because that would be super cool.

Look at that.

Imagine driving that around our pond at the ranch.

The model, not the real thing.

The model, yeah, that'd be really cool, but it is gorgeous.

So Lexus has really they've taken some risks here.

And look, I know you don't like the little suitcase pod car,

but this is what the Japan Mobility Show is all about.

It's all about like super futuristic forward thinking.

This is not a boring show.

This is about like pushing the bounds of what it means to be a car.

I'm going to be using that bucket again.

This is why auto shows have died because no one wants to go see little pod things.

People want to see cool ass cars.

And out of all the stuff that we've shown you guys so far,

the only one that is a real car is the Land Cruiser FJ.

Everything else is just pure, you know, fantasy, except for this right here.

This 1967 crown, that's a real car, Tommy.

Century. Century, sorry.

So this is something really, really crazy that Toyota is doing.

What the Toyota Century is, is a very high in prestigious model

that has for a long time been sold only in Japan.

So this is a ultimate chauffeur vehicle.

Can I look at one of those old New Yorkers?

Yeah, it's for the heads of companies, right?

If you are the head of Canon in the 1980s, you were driven around in the 60s.

Yeah, but they built so they built like three generations of these.

They all look exactly the same.

They're all very understated.

They're all very quiet luxury.

And they're really expensive.

They don't build many of them.

But Toyota now is going to keep building the Century, not as a Toyota Century,

but as its own brand.

So think of like Hyundai used to build the Genesis and now Genesis is his own thing.

Toyota used to build the Century, the Century is its own thing,

but it's moving way upmarket.

Yeah, and GR is its own thing now.

Yeah, and this is important because in a second, we'll show you the concept,

which I think is coming to America and will be sold as Alexis.

Think of the Cadillac Celesteak.

It won't be sold as Alexis.

It will be sold as a Century in dealerships that are branded Lexus.

Think of the Cadillac Celesteak.

What do you think of the logo there?

It looks like a farting chicken.

Yeah, you keep saying that.

I don't think they love that you call their Phoenix a flashlight chicken.

But yeah, a little.

It doesn't look like it's a it's a Phoenix.

So the Century currently sold in Japan.

What we're looking at here is a Century SUV, right?

It looks very much like a colonnade.

This is a very prestigious guy here.

So this competes with, like you said, the colonnade, the Bentayga,

if you're in Bentley world, right?

Now they're going after like British luxury.

And these are really, really expensive.

So this car starts, starts at $200,000 in Japan.

Realistically, though, you're going to be looking at probably two fifty three

hundred. Yeah, I mean, you're going to look at the show.

I mean, it's very, very expensive.

Well, it's very bespoke is what it is.

So if you're buying a Century, you can really speck it out exactly how you want it.

This one is very pimp like you don't see a lot of pimped out centuries.

This has got this kind of matte gray finish with an orange interior.

This is very Bentayga, but the idea or colon and yeah, the idea is right.

This is for if you have made it in Japan and you want to maybe stick

within your Japanese circle of trust, you buy a Century and not a Bentley.

And it's kind of a cool little thing.

But Toyota is saying, no, we're done with subtle.

We're bringing Century around the world.

Well, here's this one looks a little bit like a Rolls Royce, of course.

Yeah, so this is the sedan.

This is the latest generation of Century sedan.

Now, let's be clear.

These are cars you are driven in.

Typically, yeah, you don't drive them.

This is but this is a GR Century.

Yeah, I saw. Right.

What does that mean that you take it around the race track?

I don't know about that.

Now, these are twin turbo V6 powered, but they're much bigger than anything

Lexus builds. I don't even think they're on the same exact platform.

That one's a plug in hybrid.

This one's a standard twin turbo V6.

But you know what this looks like?

It looks like a Rolls Royce Ghost.

It looks like a Rolls Royce Phantom.

It's very old world money.

Yes. And now the one that might be coming to a Lexus dealer near you here is the

Century. What would you call this concept?

Is it a. Oh, well, it's kind of a you know what this is.

This is the return of the personal luxury coupe.

So back in the 1950s and 1960s, Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperial, right?

They all built these huge coupes that were a show of status.

Yes. And those kind of died with the El Dorado ETC.

In 2004 or whatever.

But Century is now trying to bring back that vibe with this coupe.

Now it's massive. It's also tall.

Hold on. It's got a really cool party trick that we're waiting for.

All these people here showing the people are waiting for it to do something.

And we will show it to you as soon as it does it, because it certainly does

something unusual that I haven't seen a personal luxury coupe do now.

You can tell that in the front, it does have a grill grills, actually.

So it feels like it's powered by internal combustion and electricity.

I'm going to go with like a 12 cylinder, if you're going to be, you know,

a cylinder. I think probably they use a twin turbo V six in the other cars.

So probably V six.

You can't you can't solve this for 300,000 with a V six.

No, with that attitude. No, no, not with any attitude.

It's not going to sell.

And the other unique thing about this, and you'll see it in a second,

is that this is actually a three seater.

Yeah, right. So the passenger seat is in its own little cell sort of.

And then there's a driver in a seat behind the driver for the peasants

who are operating the vehicle.

But the passenger cell is bigger than even the most luxurious vans here in

Japan and the doors were still waiting for them to open,

but they don't open like conventional doors.

They don't open like suicide doors.

They they split in half and the front portion slides forward.

The rear portion slides rearward and then it reveals the entire

occupant area for getting in and out.

It feels like it's a Disney ride.

You're waiting for the giant shark to come jumping out of the water.

Tommy, you know, one thing which is interesting is this is very clearly

a sporty design, but it's also tall.

Yeah, it is kind of like an SUV coupe thing.

But first of all, concept cars always have huge, narrow, big,

little rubber on the side, big wheels.

So probably these are what, twenty threes, twenty fours.

This is not going to come on the real car.

We ride like, you know, like a goat cart, goat, not go goat cart.

But probably like a goat cart.

And then remember when the Jaguar came out a couple of years ago,

the project double zero and people hated it.

But it had this basic same kind of look to it.

So it had a long hood and it had kind of a short cabin.

This kind of follows that now.

People love it because it's not electric.

Yeah, but.

I mean, what I mean by that is not that the wheels are big,

but the ground clearance is big, right?

This looks like you could take it down the Rubicon trail.

It's got so much ground clearance.

Anyway, I think it's an interesting concept.

The doors aren't doing their thing.

Yeah, word to the organizers here at Century.

Guys, you may want to like.

Either leave them open or, you know, open them more often.

But whatever, whatever, whatever timing is happening here

is not working with us very well.

Look at all these people waiting for the doors to open.

Everybody's waiting.

Now, Dad, do you think there's a market for a $300,000

Japanese ultimate luxury car sold through a Lexus dealership?

Well, you're really stuck on the Lexus dealer thing.

Yeah, Lexus dealers are nicer at golf courses

and they have service centers.

They're nice. They're very nice.

They're about as nice as it gets.

But when you're buying four or five hundred thousand,

which is very well, it could be.

Then you want to experience like a Rolls Royce or a Bentley, right?

Where you where it's broken down.

You don't want to be there with the rest of the riffraff

that are paying 80 to 120,000 for their cars.

You want to be with your kind.

You're at the dealership for four hours every 10 years.

So, like, why does it matter what the dealer experience is?

Because the dealers, even Lexus, even though they're great,

they never break. You never there.

They're still like, hey, what can I do today to get you in this?

No. No, they'll build a little cabana next to the Lexus dealers.

They'll line it in valour and gold and then they'll sell centuries.

And then the special sales people that will invite you in.

Exactly, right.

But I'm hoping that this is like a very bespoke concept, very bespoke design.

The other thing that Lexus doesn't do, which is a problem,

is they don't do anything that's unique or audible, right?

You get what you get.

And you were saying something when we drove here,

that the Lexus that you buy here is almost identical to the one

that you buy in America, no matter what the model,

except for the steering wheel, right, at different sides of the car.

Yeah.

And so I don't know if, I mean, I mean,

the money is made in these expensive cars with all the options, right?

Think of Porsche, paint the sample.

Think of all of the upticks you could do when you're buying a Rolls-Royce.

You could put like the, you know, the consolation in the roof.

And that's that's where the real money is.

And so kind of a one size fits all.

And their logo here is one of one, right, which makes it seem like

they should have something that is very much original to the owner.

Toyota is pretty good at making money.

So I bet they're considering all of these options.

So you want to keep waiting here?

Should we keep going?

I'm just disappointed that, you know, this is not opening up,

but we'll keep going, I guess.

And we can run back here if the thing actually opens up.

Sure, the second we leave it will open up.

Yeah, that's how it works.

So what are some of your highlights here from?

Let's go this way.

There's some vans we haven't looked at yet.

Vans?

Yeah, vans.

If you want to see the interior, here's the way you can go look at it.

Head on over to alltfl.com where we did a video just on this vehicle on its own.

And then you can see what the interior looks like,

because the driver is definitely separated from the rest of the passengers too.

Yeah, it's pretty interesting.

Yeah, I've got a bunch of shorts, too, if you don't have 15 minutes to watch.

It's pretty cool.

All right, so let's come on over here.

It's like the Bellagio, right?

You've got to wait for the fountains to...

It's definitely interesting to know how popular vans are in Asia.

Yeah, look at these mobility vans.

Right, so we see these little concepts for upcoming futuristic vans

that are built to hold a lot of stuff.

You're still waiting for the doors to open there.

I think the battery died.

Battery?

What do you mean battery?

It's plugged in.

You want to show them these little walkie things?

Let's go to the front and we'll show them the little walkie things.

Yeah, so the other thing that Toyota's been doing a lot of here at the Mobility Show

are these little, like, crab things, little wheelchair things,

little ways to help people get around.

And this is my favorite one, the car for toddlers.

Did you see this thing?

No, let's see this little toddler toddler's, little cute car.

So they've, I'm not sure what the market is for toddlers,

if there's a lot of people that...

Do you have to have a toddler license to drive it?

Yeah, well, that's a lot of unfulfilled questions here,

but this is the Toyota Kids Moby.

And the idea is you put your kid in there and...

And I don't know, what do you do?

And then what do you do?

Does the kid go to school in it?

I've been watching those shows, the Japanese shows,

where they give money to the little toddler guy.

What are you talking about?

What do you mean?

There's this television show here, where little tiny guys,

like five-year-old kids, go buy sushi for their family.

So now instead of, you know, walking,

they can get in this thing and they can drive autonomously.

They're gonna get smushed to the little corner.

It's two and a half feet tall.

Seven, eleven, and buy sushi for the family.

This little bubble thing?

Yeah.

So here's some bicycles that Toyota has built.

This is called the Land Hopper.

You can see it's a little foldable bike.

And then, do you wanna show them the stuff at the front?

Yeah, let's go to the front.

I think we'll wrap this up.

Boy, how do we get out of here?

Yeah, I can keep going.

Don't, yeah, there's steps over here.

The interesting thing about the Japan Mobility Show is,

they don't have a lot of vehicles that, like you said,

you can just go out and buy.

It's a lot of future forward things,

but there's very few actual production models.

So Toyota and Lexus, they have an enormous lineup of cars

here in Japan.

And the only ones that you can get into are the Land Cruiser

over there.

Okay, RAV4s here.

And then the RAV4s, yeah.

So these are the three RAV4s for sale, the new RAV4.

We've got, I think this one kind of looks like a woodland.

I wonder what it's called here.

Should we see?

The Woody, the Woodster.

No, it's not called the Woodster.

Oh, Adventure.

It's right here, Tommy.

They still call it the Adventure.

Oh, interesting.

So why do they change it to Woodman in America?

Woodland.

It's not Woodman.

Woodster.

Woodland.

Woodman.

So, yeah, look at that.

It's still called the Adventure here.

Very interesting.

Yeah.

So this is the new RAV4.

We just did our first drive reviews of these over at tflcar.com.

So if you want to check those out, that's where you can go.

We also have a limited and then a GR Sport over there.

And then, of course, they have the heritage here.

This is what I wanted to show.

Oh, these guys, yeah.

They're, of course, not working either.

So this is a wheelchair concept.

And then these little, like, pop things that can walk around.

Yeah, these aren't working either.

What the heck?

Yeah, and then that thing over there, what it looks like.

What are those called?

The Segway.

Segway.

It looks like a Segway you can sit on.

They were actually showing film.

Oh, here it goes.

This thing's doing something.

I do appreciate that Toyota is embracing technology for folks that maybe have mobility challenges.

I think that's cool.

I was saying that one looks like a Segway.

They were actually playing tennis.

So that's the way you can...

These things were playing tennis together?

No, the one, the Segway thing.

Oh, okay.

People were sitting in there playing tennis.

I don't know how you pick up the ball, but...

Oh, look, now it's doing something.

Yeah, it's standing up.

Yeah, I'm waiting for these guys to stand up.

So maybe these will stand up next.

These little spider things?

But our luck during this podcast has not been exactly...

Stellar.

But so first the wheelchair did something, and now this thing's doing something.

Now we need these guys to stand up and do something.

Oh, you see that at, like, wow, look at that thing go.

It does, like, a full tilt thing.

Yeah, you can play tennis, you can serve.

What do you think of the idea of the Japan Mobility Show?

It's a new thing.

Mobility is the big word these days.

I hate mobility.

Why do you hate mobility?

Like, stationary?

Because it's, like, handicapable.

It just, it says to me, it's not about the stuff I love about cars.

It's about, you know, just movement versus, like, fun movement.

Yeah, but your chair doesn't move, and these are chairs that move.

Yeah.

So these are more exciting chairs.

The word is too utilitarian.

It takes all the passion out of my hobby, which is, you know, driving cool cars.

Well, they're not, they're not walking around.

Can you show them their historic?

Yeah, let's go look at the, let's go look at the last two and we'll call it...

Oh, this is interesting.

What?

This is a Toyota AA.

1936.

Yeah, this is their first ever model.

And you know what's interesting about this?

It was built during the war?

No, pre-war.

Look at the name.

Toyoda.

Yeah, exactly right.

Yeah.

I think this is the reproduction, because there were none of these left, but then someone

found one of these, a kind of abandoned in Siberia, and now Toyoda's restoring.

Oh, restored it.

I think this was the reproduction one they built.

Oh, really?

I remember, right, they actually have one that they found that they're finally restoring

back to original.

Well, there's a sign here, Tommy.

I could read it.

This is April 36th.

The first passenger model, the AA.

And you're right.

All steel body.

Yeah.

Price was set at 3,353,350 yen and delivered with the Nagoya.

Oh, sorry.

I put my foot on there.

Oh, sorry.

Yeah, I put my leg on there.

Yeah.

This is the thing about Japan.

Rules are very ruley here.

1,400 of these were made?

Yeah.

Yeah, so there we have it.

Yeah, and Toyoda started out as a company that actually did fabrics.

Yeah, exactly right.

This is Toyoda Loom from back in the day.

Yeah.

Maybe instead of yelling at me for putting my foot on there, they should get the sentry

to open up.

Well, yeah.

Just saying.

All right, guys.

Well, thank you for joining us.

If you're listening to this and you want to see some of these things, where should

they go, Tommy?

Yeah, AltTFL.com.

That's the place to go.

We're a little jet lagged, so if I'm a little, you know, a little bit harsher today.

It's just, I've gone without sleep for the last two days.

Tell me.

We are TFL.

Yes, thank you.

Oh, thank you.

We're recording right now.

What's your name?

My name is Tujin.

Oh, that's cool.

What's your outlet called?

What's your outlet?

It's a magazine.

Oh, sweet.

Very nice.

Well, thank you for watching us.

I really appreciate it.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, have a good day.

What part of India?

I'm from Bombay.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's awesome.

We'll enjoy.

Yeah, thank you for coming by.

See you later.

All right, guys.

Well, we'll see you next time.

Yep.

As always, this is Roland.

And Tommy.

Say hello to altifall.com for more news, views, and what, Tommy?

Real road reviews.

Well, we're ending in a loom.

There you go.

TFL loom.

0:00

54:18

Ep. 309: Is The New Toyota Land Cruiser FJ The Newest Forbidden Fruit?

Toyota LFA

About this episode

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