11-23-2008 10:52 PM

Last month, Toyota launched the iQ city car, to much fanfare amongst the green crowd. Within days, speculation began on a sporty two-seater roadster based on the same small platform. Naturally, the first thing we noticed was its resemblance to the 1965 Sports 800, itself based on a lesser commuter car, the Publica. If built, the yet-unnamed iQ-based convertible could be powered by a 1.0 or 1.3-liter gasoline or diesel engine. Sadly, unlike its predecessors, both this roadster and the iQ are front wheel drive. Expect to see a prototype at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

[Auto Motor und Sport via TheMotorReport]

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I wouldn't worry one bit about the car being Front Wheel Drive... rather I'd worry about what ratings it got when front ended into an impact barrier at 35mph or greater.

In the consumer market - I'd worry that it would never make it into production without major changes to the body design for all the safety requirements, and/or a major weight gain for that poor little 1.3 liter engine to pull around.

I wonder if this is the cute little car Toyota has in mind for production in China? I wonder if Nissan is still projecting the price of a new car at $6K by 2010 (again from China).. now that their stock fell below $8.00 per share again.

Will Wal-Mart actually be the first to import/sell the little cars from China? Or wil it be Harbor Freight?

At any rate a neat concept..

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited November 24, 200816 yr by Carl Beck