Unpopular Opinion: Worst Concept

Brendan: Everyone wants a small, light two-seater to come out of Japan and challenge the Mazda Miata. As good as the current MX-5 is, more choice is better, and we’re always on the lookout for something that can give us an option.

Toyota’s S-FR two-seater ain’t it. Look, I know beating up on this tiny coupe seems unfair, but let’s tick off the problems. One: it looks like a hair dryer mated with a day-glo guppy. Two, it’s got a 1.5L engine with even less power than the FR-S, which everyone wishes had a bit more punch. Three, have I mentioned the day-glo guppy thing?

We’ll never get this car on our shores, and that’s fine because we don’t need it. If anything Toyota needs to get cracking on reintroducing the Supra nameplate to lead the brand forward.

Jonathan: Well, It wouldn’t be fair to hang Brendan out to dry as the only one rejecting an effort to impress showgoers and the automotive world in general, so I’ll call out the Mercedes-Benz lozenge-lounge. I believe it was referred to as looking like a suppository in one outlet, and it’s hard to argue that point, a slippery aerodynamic shape suitable for cutting through the air and, well, other uses. As important as driver-assistance technologies are and autonomous driving is the way of the future, it seems unnecessary to waste a design exercise on turning the F 015 Luxury in Motion into a minivan and making a video to pronounce it “COOL” with its light-up equalizer front grille and “AUTONOMOUS” with an unlikely theoretical hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain.

Most Missed Brand

Brendan: Isuzu, we’re fine. Daihatsu, we’re not sure you ever got here in the first place. But Suzuki, oh man. We’ll B missing U.

This year’s display at Suzuki featured a host of tiny vehicles with outsized personalities, and they were all enough to make us miss the stylized-S brand. The drop-top Mighty Deck was particularly good, as was the Jimny. Who wouldn’t want one of those – the perfect vehicle for the narrow backcounty trails.

Ready for an Appearance in the next Transformer Movie

Jonathan: Although rarely grabbing headlines, FUSO is a popular brand worldwide for its delivery and commercial vehicles, not to mention heavy equipment. But this thing, the Super Great V “Spider”, this awesome, scary, work truck outfitted with scoops and claws and a downright evil red and black colour scheme is our pick to become the next Decepticon villain to be sheared limb from limb by Optimus Prime’s Energon sword (or something like that).

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