Articles by Paul Gover

The start comes with the unveiling of the Toyota 86 sports car at the Tokyo Motor Show and company chief Akio Toyoda says the world's young people are his target. "Cars have an emotional present that inspires drivers to enjoy their freedom," Toyoda says. "Today it is said that young people have little interest in cars as there are much more interesting things and, as an automobile maker, I find this quite frustrating." Toyota makes its big numbers and big profits with the blandoid Corolla and Camry but Toyoda, a part-time racer who now heads his family's company, is shifting the emphasis. He also wants to bury the safety and reliability controversies in the USA which are likely - together with the impact of the Japanese natural disasters in March - likely to cost Toyota its place at the top of the world sales charts. Toyoda is the driving force behind the Toyota 86 and also talks enthusiastically about the driver-focussed Lexus GS displayed at the Tokyo show. His enthusiasm is still to have a major effect at Toyota, which launches an all-new Camry in Australia next week, but he talks big and there are big signs at the show shouting "Reborn" and "Fun to drive, again". "I believe that if it is not fun it is not a car. Personally, I love the smell of gasoline and the sound of an engine, so I hope this type of vehicle never disappears," Toyoda says. "I hope that motor vehicles will continue to provide dreams and inspiration to people for all eras." Toyoda says the future of cars is still not certain and Toyota is exploring all areas, from efficient petrol cars to hybrids and pure electric vehicles. "I do not believe that the debate concerning future motor vehicles will be a choice between electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles. What is necessary is the decision by consumers, but it is unlikely that there will be one choice. I believe that various types of vehicles will be used for different applications through maximising the advantages of their individual strengths."

The all-new Mirage is unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show with the promise of a pricetag to rival its closest Japanese rival, the Nissan Micra from $12,990. It's still a year away from local roads but the car looks good and will be built in Thailand to control costs. "It's pretty important for us. It's a fairly large segment, and we're not really competitive at the moment," the vice-president of brand and marketing at Mitsubishi Australia, Paul Unerkov, tells Carsguide. "We don't want it at the Lancer price, so we're going to have to be down under $15,000 to be competirive in that area. It's the segment of the market that's growing." The Mirage will replace the existing underdone Colt, which needed a major price cut to get it moving in Australia. Unerkov believes reintroducing the Mirage name will work well, although the new car is a four-door hatch and not like the compact coupe that previously wore the badge."The last time we have the Mirage was back with the coupe. They stopped at the same time, in 2006," he says. "It is a global name. It will be Mitsubishi Mirage, just that. We're really happy about that because it has a good name and there are a lot of happy owners." Unerkov says the car at the Tokyo show has a 1.0-litre engine but he is not sure how the car will be powered in Australia. We're just looking at the different variants, it hasn'been decided. "We'll keep that in our hat.You just about know everything else today. They're only launching the one-litre here in Tokyo." But he is bullish about the car's chances. "It will be about this time next year, 12 months or so. It's on schedule. "It's a four-door at this stage. There may be other variants, but it's that initially."

Subaru says it is the creator of the two all-new sports cars which will be sold simultaneously as its BRZ and the Toyota 86. The smaller of the two Japanese makers, who are partners in the project, says it is responsible for all the important stuff in the BRZ-86 and Toyota only added the froth and bubble once the hard work was done.  Subaru did the engine, chassis, suspension and brakes in the project, and the 86 even has a signature Subaru exhaust note from its flat-four engine. The car definitely looks like a Toyota, and is missing the all-wheel drive that has become a Subaru signature in Australia, but company chief Nick Senior says there is no doubt about who was responsible for the car. "It is, at the end of the day, a Subaru," Senior says bluntly to Carsguide. "Toyota input, at the end of the day, was design and product planning." His claim is sure to spark a stoush as the doors are thrown open this morning at the Tokyo Motor Show and people can decide for themselves as the two production cars can be assessed side-by-side for the first time.  Toyota has already given journalists a first drive experience in its 86 - and it's a terrific car - while Subaru will follow soon with the BRZ. Senior says anyone who drives the 86 or the BRZ will know that it's a Subaru at heart.  "They have poured a lot of Subaru into this car. it is a driver's car," he says. "The car, the drivetrain and the driving experience is all Subaru. That's one of the things that's given us a real cause for discussion and debate about this car and whether it comes to Australia." Subaru is also worried that it might not be able to match Toyota's plan for a starting price in the low $30,000s, perhaps as little as $32,000. "We are studying. We won't make a decision until later in December," Senior says. But he seems to be wavering from his previous assertion that the BRZ was unlikely for Australia because two of the brand's local pillars are all-wheel drive and turbocharging for its performance cars, both missing from the BRZ. "It's a process that started several years ago. It is great, at last, that the car breaks cover," he says. "More people have seen it now ... and I think that it ticks off a lot of boxes. "What Fuji has said for some time is they would like to consider it, and take it. But the final decision is up to us."

Forget all about the Celica, Supra and even the MR2. When Toyota finally decided it was time to get serious about a 21st century hero car, to put some much-needed shine on its badge, it discarded all

ASIMO, a humanoid Honda, can now run, jump, hop and even kick a ball. More impressively, the 13th generation of Honda's cute little robot friend, can also open a bottle, pour a drink and talk with rudimentary sign language. Watching ASIMO in action, it's impossible not to be captivated by the ability of a machine that is now much more like a little person. ASIMO walks in a human style, crouches and runs like a youngster, and when it kicks the ball it has no problem - unlike a two-year-old - in maintaining its balance. The bending and gripping ability of its hands is little short of amazing. Honda has even given the machine the voice of a young girl. There is a certain amount of squeaking, and you can hear the robot's cooling fan, but that's it. "ASIMO now goes from automatic to autonomous. Our goal is to create an assistance robot that can live in harmony with people and provide personal assistance services," said Satoshi Shigemi, head of ASIMO development at Honda in Tokyo. "It is impossible to make ASIMO totally like human beings . . .  However, I believe ASIMO can fulfill its role within a certain defined environment by interacting with people. ASIMO can choose from certain amounts of scenarios and perform autonomously in a certain environment." Robot development has been a priority at Honda for more than 10 years, and Toyota also has a robot division that has created a marching band that can play a variety of instruments. The Japanese companies are concentrating on non-human workers that will eventually be able to care for the country's aging population, although development has also resulted in spin-off technologies including a new voice recognition and navigation system being fast- tracked into Honda cars. "We would like to use the research from our humanoid robot research to make them more useful," said Shigemi. The latest ASIMO can run at 9km/h and operate for 40 minutes on a single charge, and the robot is being programmed for a small set of tasks at Honda's headquarters. "Right now, ASIMO can be used to greet people. We also have a plan to give presentations . . . and then maybe try to use ASIMO to give descriptions at science museums. "We are going to test ASIMO in more real-world situations." Honda refuses to discuss the cost of an ASIMO, or its spending on the multi-million dollar project, and has yet to set any sort of on-sale date for a customer model.

Despite a reputation for blandoid family cars, Toyota actually ran its first true two-seater sporty back in 1965. The car was called the Sports 800 and, thanks to sharing parts with the more mundane Publica, the baby coupe looked the goods and had a top speed of close to 160km/h. As Toyota is now keen to highlight, partly in an attempt to divert all the engine attention from its 86 partner Subaru, the S800 had a 790cc horizontally-opposed, two-cylinder, air-cooled engine. "So far, Toyota has delivered a variety of sports cars. In developing the new 86 we had in mind three models in particular," says Tetsyua Tada, chief engineer on the 86. He goes on to highlight the S 800, then the brilliant 2000 GT, and finally the Corolla AE86 which has become a Japanese cult car and the building block for a huge number of weekend warriors and motorsport champions, including the latest drift machines. A classic 2000 GT was even parked in the styling studio as Toyota's designers worked on the shape for the 86, so they could tap it for inspiration. "This is a masterpiece that pushed Toyota's sports cars to a world level," says Tada. The 2000 GT was the high point of Toyota's rapid rise through the 1960s, despite the arrival of the Corolla, and was even used by Sean Connery when he starred as James Bond in the 1967 film, You Only Live Twice. In an interesting twist, Toyota built a pair of convertible cars for the film, even though the 2000 GT was only ever sold as a coupe. The AE86 - also known as the Sprinter - gives its name to the all-new Toyota two-seater and is the car that Tada clearly believes is the closest relative to his new baby. "We had a passion to create a car like the AE86. Rear-wheel drive and nimble footwork are the basics of this vehicle," Tada says.

A growing number of motor makers are working on joystick controls and all three of Honda's concept cars for this weeks' Tokyo Motor Show are missing a steering wheel. They range from a battery-powered city runabout to a high-speed intercity commuter car, but each is fitted with the Twin Lever Control system being developed by Honda for future production cars. Honda has already tested its TLC system on a formula racing car at its Suzuka circuit, home to the Japanese Grand Prix, and found a 0.36 second advantage over a single lap compared to a car with a wheel for the driver. "It is intended to be more user friendly. It accurately facilitates the ability of the driver. The lever type is in line with the motion of people," the creative director at Honda Design in Tokyo, Yoshinori Asahi, told News Limited today. In the past, Saab has built a prototype with a single joystick similar to the design fitted to Airbus aircraft, although it never made it beyond the research stage. Asahi said Honda is actively developing its TLC system for eventual production, although he refused to give a solid timeline. "We pursue what is a good feeling among people. It is food for thought. We are working for production." Surprisingly, he said the TLC system was not born from the gaming generation but is a reaction to the need for improved ergonomics, better safety and more dashboard display space in 21st century cars. "Even though they are the gaming generation, our notion for TLC did not come from the Playstation." Asahi said one of the biggest hurdles to changing from a steering wheel could be legislation, since all drivers currently pass their license test using a car with a wheel. "There are some legal issues we have to overcome," he admitted.

Toyota has done its own stuff, displaying a tweaked 86 with extra body bits and a sports cabin with race seats at the global preview of the new coupe, but expects 21st century hotrodders to zero-in on the engine. Chief engineer Tetsuya Tada says he has visited hundreds of aftermarket companies in Japan and many told him not to bother with a factory turbocharged model. There is clearly room in the engine bay, and Subaru has vast experience thanks to its WRX and STI models, but anything Toyota did to the 86 was going to be overtaken by tuners. So Tada, without admitting anything publicly, has obviously chosen to let them have their way and kept the price down on the basic car to encourage sales and leave room for aftermarket spending on extra power. "We rejected turbo, rejected all-wheel drive, rejected high weight. We listened a lot to car enthusiasts," Tada says. "Customers can enjoy their own tuning and customise it. It's a car that can evolve with customers. It's not bound by the conventional stereotype."

Only seven Maybachs were sold in Australia and that number is unlikely  to grow now that Mercedes-Benz management has put its sword through  the car and company. It rejected a proposal to renew the lineup with replacements for the Maybach 57 and 62, which would have hit the road in 2014. “We've come to the conclusion that it is better to cut our losses with Maybach than to continue into an uncertain future," says Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler. "Yes, production will end late 2013," confirms David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia. The re-born Maybach hit the road at almost the same time as the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but there was never any real contest. The BMW-owned British limousine was right on the money, and right for the money, but the Maybach always came across as a long-wheelbase S-Class Benz with a Dick Smith store in the back seat. The Maybach promised business-class airline seating for two, as well as a brilliant tail-end entertainment package, and delivered on that end of the deal. But the car was never different enough, or better enough, to lure conquest customers or even satisfy upscale Benz buyers. Long-time Benz owner and collector Lindsay Fox, for one, always wanted an S-Class Pullman and not a Maybach. When prices could easily soar above $1 million, sales were slow at a  time when Rolls-Royce regularly delivered 20 cars a year in Australia and more than 1000 worldwide. McCarthy says only a couple of the fully-loaded Maybach 62s were sold here, with the balance delivered as the shorter-wheelbase 57, but refuses to go into detail. "Each Maybach was made specifically to customer order. There is  nothing 'average' about a Maybach price, specification or their customers," he says. Despite the death sentence, Maybach owners will still get support. "Every Maybach owner will continue to receive the exceptional level of customer support, interaction and exclusive benefits that come with owning one of the most exclusive cars on the planet," McCarthy says.

Hachi Roku. These are the Japanese words for the number 86, but they take on far  more importance today with the unveiling of the first Toyota sports car for the 21st century.The 86 is the car that must restore passion and respect for a brand  that has been through the wars in recent years, from its fabulous failure in Formula One to the safety scandals in the USA and now the loss of production and income through natural disasters in Japan and Thailand."Please enjoy," says the top man at Toyota, Akio Toyoda, as he drives the 86 into the spotlight at Fuji Speedway in Japan. It's a simple statement but one that comes from the heart for a man who is both a part-time racer and personally passionate about his  family company.Toyoda helped drive the Lexus LFA supercar into production and knows Toyota must do much better than the whitegoods-on-wheels Camry and Corolla that are the company's backbone. So the 86 is a two-plus-two coupe with a normally-aspirated 2.0-litre engine making 147 kiloWatts, six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes, and rear-wheel drive.Toyota tapped Subaru for the basic engineering, including both the engine and chassis, while it concentrated on the cash and the bodywork and the finessing so essential for a car that MUST deliver real driving enjoyment."This is a car where one plus one adds up to three," says the chief  engineer of the 86, Tetsuya Tada. "We had a strong passion to deliver again a sports car that is fun. A  car with no compromise. That would be loved by enthusiasts."The news for Australia is good, although Subuaru has yet to confirm any local sales plan for its take on the 86, called the BRZ."The car should be on sale around the middle of next year. Our  ambition is a starting price with a three at the front," says Toyota  spokesman, Mike Breen.DRIVINGLively. That's the first thing I feel at the wheel of the 86. I'm only getting a couple of laps at a super-tight handling track at Fuji, but the first impression in the new Toyota is that the car has hit its targets. It feels words away from a turgid Celica, much more refined than an MR2, and far more enjoyable than a Supra. Now, about that dak-dak Subaru exhaust note ...The 86 is smaller than I expect, at least overall. It's a compact 2+2 for sure, but there is good space in the front and the seats are well shaped. The six-speed manual has a nice snick-snick feel and there is good weighting to the steering and a strong brake pedal. Underway, the car pulls well enough. It's always tough to tell on a track, unless you're in an M5 or 911, but the gearing is good and it pulls well as I upshift from second to third at 6000 revs. It doesn't have a particularly torquey feel, and I cannot assess things like wind noise or tyre roar.The chassis has great grip, good turn-in and - with the stability control sent on holiday - it's easy to provoke a nice sideways slide. One colleague even manages a giant third-gear spin. It's impossible to know exactly how the 86 will drive in Australia, but all the signs are good. It feels shrink-wrapped and taut, with the enjoyment that Toyota promises.It can easily handle more power and there are tuners around the world already busy on the project. It's just a pity that Subaru was not tapped for some STI turbo mojo, as it looks like the engine room could definitely handle the extra equipment. For me, the 86 feels more like the first chapter than the end of the book. There is plenty to come and, right now, it all looks pretty good.