Chiba Days #10 - Tokyo Motor Show 2017 Part 2

Hello everyone and welcome back to the second part of our Tokyo Motor Show 2017 coverage here on Tiro Finale. Yesterday, we got to take a look at the bulk of the manufacturers in the east hall. Today, we we will be covering the remainder of the East Hall and entirety of the West Hall. 

The remainder of the east hall was a separate building from the main east hall and housed several other manufacturers. Key of which is Honda which brought out their all new Civic Type R. I must admit, this is one car that certainly looks better in photos than it does in person. I am not exactly sure why. 

Besides their cars, Honda also brought to the show several of their motorcycles including the legendary Honda Cub.

This year, the Honda Cub is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Six decades ago, Honda brought reliable mobility to the masses with the Cub and has not looked back since. 

Walking around the Honda booth, I was pleasantly surprised to find Honda's new NSX. This is one car that I have yet to see in the metal.

Unlike the Civic Type R, the NSX looks much better in real life than it does in photos. One can only hope that Honda is planning a Type R version for this high tech beast. 

Suzuki had a fairly large booth too, mostly showcasing its kei cars. The biggest attraction however was the new Swift that Suzuki had released. 

Yamaha is mostly known for making motorcycles and engines. As such, it was rather shocking to see them preview an off-road concept with a motorcycle-esque cockpit layout. 

With the east halls complete, it was time to make a move to the west halls. The west halls were split into three main areas. The first part of the hall where all the elevators converged was the grounds for the Harley Davidson, Volvo, Citroen and Gran Turismo booths.

The second adjacent part, was the Toyota-Daihatsu hall. 

Daihatsu showcased their new Compagno concept inspired by a retro creation of theirs.

The coupe styling and retro design queues are certainly interesting. In all probability, this would be a Japanese domestic model (JDM) hence, not seeing sales outside of Japan.

Occupying a larger part of the hall, is Toyota's booth. 

Toyota has spared no expense, even bringing out their LMP1 endurance racer. 

All of that in an effort to promote its new GR HV Sports concept. 

This matte black concept roadster utilizes a racing hybrid system and is built upon the technology of Toyota's endurance racers. The front headlights and wheels are a clear nod to Toyota's own LMP1 race car. 

Design wise, the dimensions and platform calls back to the much loved MR2 Spyder. Will Toyota actually put this model into production, only time will tell. 

One car they will be putting into production is the new Toyota Century. Having read preview coverage of TMS online, this was one of the few vehicles I was truly looking forward to seeing. 

This is an all-new platform for Toyota's aging Century which remains to be the Rolls-Royce of Japan. Now updated with new technologies and design, the Century is ready to bring its restrained opulence back to the elites. 

Toyota also debuted the new Crown Concept. While the previous Crown had a sharp, aggressive design, the new concept looks much smoother and streamlined. If you look at it as a whole, it even looks very similar to the new BMW 5 series. 

A new hybrid crossover was also introduced by Toyota, the TJ Cruiser. The blocky design reminds me of the FJ Cruiser. Only difference is, this one does not look as good and has a hybrid power plant. 

Toyota recently got back into the WRC program with their Yaris and have been met with success in races. The road-going Yaris is even getting an RS spec which is coming soon. 

Compared to Toyota's clinically white booth, Daihatsu's sported a much brighter and more youthful splash of color. 

Gran Turismo had a booth too, allowing visitors to try out the new Gran Turismo Sport racing simulation. 

Head upstairs and you arrive at the industry section of TMS. Most of the booths here are manned by companies within the automotive business offering products and solutions for cars. This was the business side of things and there were not too many visitors in this area.

TMS even had a group VR event known as The Maze. Attendees had to register beforehand if they wanted to take part int the experience. 

Further down the hall is the Tomica corner. Tomica is basically the Hot Wheels of Japan.

Rather than make crazy vehicles, Tomica focus mostly on real-life vehicles. Their track sets are also notably more grounded. 

For the event, Tomica had 18 exclusive models on sale. By the time I visited, two models had already sold out. 

I settled on the TMS 2017 GT-R which was one of the event exclusives. Something to fondly remember the exhibition in the future. 

Tomica also had a racing car which was pretty much a stock GT86 with a few Gazoo Racing bits, racing rims and wheels. 

Ever wondered what a crash tested car looks like?

The Japan government has got you covered with its extensive test on road safety. There was even a graph explaining the safest cars in Japan. 

Having covered the entire hall from end to end, it was finally time for me to take my leave. True enough, it was already nightfall by the time I walked out.

Many automotive enthusiasts consider this year's Tokyo Motor Show to be rather disappointing due to the lack of high performance models introduced. To some extent, I would echo the same opinion. But, this is the first time that I have ever attended TMS and, if not for the cars, the sheer execution of it all certainly has me very impressed. I can only hope for better things the next time I visit. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!