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Fast forward to the 2050 Geneva Motor Show. One of the last exhibits in a pavilion dedicated to the ‘Glorious Internal Combustion Era’ will be the Toyota iQ. The 3D standee projected next to it will read something like this: “The Toyota iQ. This was Toyota’s personal mobility solution as the world was gripped by a devastating economic slowdown in 2008. Though Toyota was already making hybrids, the iQ was powered by an efficient three-cylinder internal combustion engine that cranked 996cc to develop 67 bhp. It could cruise at 120 kph and also return 23 kpl.”
So there. This is a museum piece for the future already. I liked the car the moment I saw the first pics and was waiting for an opportunity to get behind the wheel of one. And that opportunity came last month, on the eve of the 41st Tokyo Motor Show, when I visited the Mega Web—– a show of strength by the world’s largest carmaker in Tokyo where expensive real estate has been converted into a showroom cum shopping centre cum playground cum exhibition. And of course a ferris wheel that could be seen from space too. Well, almost.
The test track at Mega Web is bit of a joke though. It is narrow and speeds are restricted to 60 kph (100 when nobody is looking) and is essentially meant for giving sample rides to Toyota-struck people who visit the capital. Not exactly the place where you let loose a GT-R in anger then. But it proved more than adequate to get a feel of the little iQ.
In flesh, the iQ looks weirder than in the pictures. It is stubby, with a wheelbase that is shorter than that of the original Mini with no overhangs whatsoever, front and rear. The nose is reminiscent of zillions of electric car concepts from the last decade or so, yet from the A-pillar onwards to the chunky B (and the last) pillar, is an automobile that is as well-formed as any other bread-and-butter Toyota! Then the design proceedings come to an abrupt halt with a bit of design flair thrown in, in the form of a curved rear window and a straight-chop hatch door.
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