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Toyota JPN Taxi Concept is a Japanese riff on an English classic

As far as beasts of burden go, New York City's new - and much maligned - Nissan NV200 "Taxi of Tomorrow" isn't a bad one. It's space efficient, reasonably economical, and its simple construction should mean it's pretty robust over the long haul, too. But it lacks panache and a sense of occasion - let alone a sense of humor - three things this this Toyota JPN Taxi Concept we found at the Tokyo Motor Show has in spades.
Unfortunately, that's about all the information we have on this cheeky London-taxi-inspired showcar. Toyota hasn't provided much in the way of details, other than to proclaim that the five-seat JPN was "created with Japanese hospitality in mind" and it "aims to enliven city streets." Japan's livery landscape has long been occupied by traditional three-box sedans - models like the Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric. The JPN Taxi at just over 171 inches would appear to offer both a tighter footprint and added whimsy, both of which are in the automaker's favor; we hear it hopes this concept will one day become the country's own version of America's yellow Crown Vic cab.
Toyota isn't providing powertrain specifications, but we like the airy feeling of the interior (Japanese cabs typically don't have cumbersome partitions between cabbie and passengers), the minimalist driver area with three screens, and the widescreen overhead video system for passengers that bookends the panoramic moonroof. Check it out in our gallery of live shots and let us know what you think in Comments.

Ford Fiesta ST in startling track battle against Toyota GT86

On the surface, there's very little that the Ford Fiesta ST and Toyota GT86 (or the Scion FR-S that is sold in the US, or the largely similar Subaru BRZ) share in common. One is a hatchback with power coming from a turbocharged engine routed to the front wheels. The other is a coupe with power coming from a naturally aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine routed to the rear wheels.
Thing is, both of them are reasonably priced performance cars aimed at a similar segment of the automotive marketplace, so a comparison isn't out of the question. It is with all of this in mind that we direct you to the video below, in which the blokes from Evo pit the two manic little machines against one another on a race track. The result? Well, it can be summed up this way: Fast versus fun.
See how the track battle goes down in the video below.

Camatte concept puts the Toy back in Toyota [w/videos]

It's been two years since Toyota first revealed its Camatte show car at the Tokyo Toy Show. Though sadly never destined for production, Toyota brought the concept back the following year as the Camatte 57s roadster, and is now returning to the same show with yet another take on the kid-friendly, configurable 1+2 with interchangeable body panels - this time with a slew of features that are fresh not only to the concept itself, but to the industry altogether.
This year the Camatte is being showcased in two forms: a bare chassis in the Tech Lab that lets kids see the inner workings of a modern automobile, and another in the Design Lab that lets kids draw their own motif for the concept that is then displayed on an LED hood.
The overall approach reminds us of the way Toyota's budget brand Daihatsu unveiled the Kopen roadster concept at the Tokyo Motor Show late last year, only even more kid-focused and decidedly more light-hearted than you might otherwise expect from one of the largest industrial giants in the world, and could only have been made for a toy exposition. In Japan. Which would explain the ridiculously upbeat videos below, where you'll also find the brief press release.