Tokyo top gear

Mazda hopes to put luxury Lexus on the line with its latest sporty models, reports ALASTAIR SLOANE.

Mazda will unveil two new rear-wheel-drive models at the Tokyo Motor Show today, both targeted at luxury carmaker Lexus.

At least one of the cars will be powered by a naturally aspirated 190kW rotary engine, a reworked version of the twin-rotor powerplant which appeared under the bonnet of the 1995 RX-01 show car.

One of the Mazda models will be a four-door sports sedan aimed at the Lexus IS300, the six-cylinder big brother to the IS200 launched in New Zealand earlier this year. The Lexus IS300 is due here in 2001.

The other will be the likely replacement for the RX-7, perhaps also powered by a rotary engine.

But Mazda has ditched an evolutionary, fourth-generation two-door RX-7 model in favour of a genuine four-seater coupe with, says the industry buzz, a drop-top roof.

Observers say the influence of the new-look Ford Thunderbird, a two-door/four-seater convertible unveiled at the Detroit motor show last year, is apparent in the replacement RX-7 concept.

Ford executives said at Detroit that the Thunderbird was essentially a styling exercise but that something along similar lines would most likely go into production.

The company's president, Australian Jac Nasser, said that he personally wanted to see the Thunderbird hit the road.

Ford owns Mazda (33.4 per cent) and it would make economic sense for Mazda to rework the Thunderbird platform, just as it shares its 323 platform with the Ford Laser, and its four-wheel-drive Bounty platform with the Ford Courier.

Reducing the number of platforms is what car-making is all about these days. For example, Nissan has had about 23 platforms on the go for the past few years and, at last count, it was billions of dollars in debt. Volkswagen, on the other hand, has had four platforms and has billions of dollars to spend.

The design of the RX-7 concept mirrors that of another expected show model Lexus, the two-door/four-seater SC400 coupe/convertible.

Information about both the Mazda and Lexus models is scare, despite pictures of some of the cars appearing on the Internet.

But what is known is that the Lexus will have a retractable roof, like that of the Mercedes-Benz CLK, among others.

The roof alone is typical of the versatility all car designers in the 21st century are chasing.

Most of the underpinnings for the Lexus SC400 will be shared with the IS300 sedan.

The SC400 is officially described as a concept car, but observers believe it is a thinly disguised version of the two-door Lexus due in 2002.

The new Lexus was styled by Sotiris Kovos, the Greek designer responsible for the Toyota Echo, the small car which has created a stir in design circles.

Kovos says too many small cars are boring and that he built the Echo for young and old alike, incorporating safety features specifically aimed at children.

Kovos, aged 33, graduated in sociology and psychology at the University of Athens en route to Toyota via the Royal College of Art.

The Echo, which has a robust exterior, is the replacement for the Starlet in New Zealand and will be here early in December.

Carmakers are trotting out more and more city cars. Hyundai has its Atoz, Daewoo its Matiz, Volkswagen its Lupo, Mercedes-Benz its Smart. Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki will show off their own city cars at Tokyo.

Nissan will point to a new direction with a large rear-drive sedan, which some observers believe will be aimed at the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.

Subaru will continue to build on its recreational wagon market with a concept car it calls the Fleet-X.

All sorts of hybrid designs are expected, along with direct-injection petrol-powered concepts and fuel-cell cars.

Honda trots out the FCX concept, a vision of the future beyond the internal combustion engine. It looks like it was squeezed out of a toothpaste tube.

The body of the car is divided horizontally into two sections, a design Honda calls "twin solid" concept.

The upper section has a passenger cabin with a pronounced "cabin forward" look, a la Chrysler. The lower section accommodates Honda's new powertrain, a fuel cell.

The cell extracts hydrogen by adding water to methanol and passing it through a "fuel reformer." The hydrogen is then mixed with oxygen, producing a chemical reaction in a 140mm cell stack to produce electricity.

Honda says the cell stack is only 140mm deep and can be positioned below the cabin floor, providing a low, flat floor and spacious cabin.

The two-door Spocket concept provides the flexibility of three different vehicles in the one package.

At first glance the Spocket has the proportions of a mid-engined sports car.

Inside, it uses an aircraft-style steering wheel and free-standing cluster of motorcycle-type instruments. The doors pivot forward on struts.

But it can be turned into an open-top two-seater by simply rolling down the rear window from the inside and sliding the roof towards the rear. It can also be turned into a small utility, with a flat rear floor and built-in loading ramp.