Museums

Toyota Automobile Museum – Japan

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The giant Toyota brand origins are around Nagoya in Japan and they have a number of fantastic car and technology museums in the region. The Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi Nagoya is a huge showcase of the iconic vehicles of the 20th century. The museum features cars from around the world and not only Toyota there are over 120 automobiles all glistening like jewelry in a huge modern showcase featuring 46700 m2 of display. The museum also features children’s education area, a automotive library, cafeteria, function and theatre facilities and one of the best auto gift shops around.

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The Cony Guppy Sports- the name says it all

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The Cony Guppy Sports is one of the more unusual of the mini vehicles. Built by the Aichi Machine Industry Co. Ltd in Japan, which later went onto be part of Nissan. The vehicle featured some cutting edge items for its day including four wheel independent suspension, a torque converter for clutches gear box operation, but it didn’t quiet have what it needed to catch on, maybe because it just looked wrong or the 11hp two stroke once cylinder engine made it more like a lawn mower. What you can’t see from the picture the vehicle is actually a small ute, you could put something about the size of a slab of beer in the back. The vehicle only 5000 units and wasn’t’ very popular although collectors will pay good money for them today. This photo was taken at the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya Japan.

The Mazda R360 Coupe

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Today Mazda is one of the leading car manufacturing companies in the world but it wasn’t until 1960 when the manufacturer was taken seriously as a car producer with its beautiful R360 coupe. This little vehicle was powered by a rear mounted and air cooled 356 cc engine which put out a whopping 16 hp with top speeds of about 52mph and weighed only 380 kg. The wheelbase was only 69 inches and as the photo taken at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima shows it was very cute. Production lasted about 6 years, and in that time they did a few major upgrades and even produced a convertible version of the R360 from 1964 and also transformed the vehicle into a light pickup truck, the B360.

Back to the future with the De Lorean

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The De Lorean would have to be the most famous of the whacky cars which went into production. Maybe it was because of it’s starring role in the hit movies Back to the Future or maybe just because of what it was. Built in 1981 for 3 years in of all places Northern Ireland the DMC-12 featured gull wing doors, a fiberglass underbody and brushed stainless steel panels. About 9000 of the of the cars were produced at the Dunmurray Factory it is believed over 6000 still exist in the hands of collectors and are cemented as a icon of the 80’s. The car has become so popular in recent years DNC Houston announced a few months ago it would bring the vehicle back into production with about 20 being built each year, the first one rolls of the assembly line this year. They will sell for just under $60,000 us and have a few modern touches but all the 80’s design cues that people have come to love. This vehicle was photographed at the Toyota Mega Web classic car collection in Tokyo Japan

BMW’s baby Isetta

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After the second world war there was a great need for small cheap transportation and there was a boom in what we now call microcars. The Isetta was one of the most successful being originally designed in Italy but being built in several European countries and even Brazil the vehicle was infact licensed to the car manufactures from Iso SpA. in Italy which was more familiar with making fridges and scooters. BMW made the car its own and did some innovative design changes and today it is the classic Isetta including making it more reliable. The thing that made the car so popular you only needed a motor bike license, because under the skin that’s really all the vehicle was. Transeum took this photograph of this lovely example of the Isetta at the amazing BMW museum in Munich, Germany.

Cousin IT drives one – and I can see why

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Everyone’s favorite spooky family the Adams Family’s weird Cousin It drives a KR200 Messerschmitt and you have just got to look at our photo to see why. It is bizarre! Messerschmitt were a famous German aircraft manufacturer but after the war they were not allowed to produce any more aircraft so they got into the car/bike business. The vehicle had a rear mounted 191 cc Sachs single cylinder two stroke engine and three wheels, and handle bar steering. It had a top speed of just over 60mph with good handling but the brakes were another thing, many needed brake upgrades just to make the machine stop. Later the company made 4 wheel version, and they also made prefabricated houses before being allowed to manufacture aircraft again in 1968. Cousin It wasn’t the only celebrity to drive one of these funny little vehicles, the King of Rock n’Roll Elvis Presley also had a red one in his extensive automotive collection. We took this picture at the Toyota Automotive Museum in Nagoya Japan where they have a huge showcase of iconic vehicles.

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The Mazda HR-X2 Hydrogen Concept

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Unveiled at the 1993 Tokyo Motor show and now is on display at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima Japan, the HR-X2 concept car featured a Hydrogen rotary engine. This car adopted metal-hydride to carry hydrogen fuel safely. Although range was only 150 miles a tank full it was considered a breakthrough with the new hydrogen fuel. The range was affected by the level of safety equipment required to transport the explosive fuel. Performance was as good as a normal family sedan. The body was also an environmental wonder with all of it being recyclable.

The Toyota PM for Personal Mobility

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Toyota has recently made a few interesting personal travel vehicles as concept show cars and the PM is no exception. Toyota’s vision is to join vehicles together as a mobile community communicating wirelessly with one another in an effort to assist safety and ease congestion and work in a series using auto pilot. The car even has emotions with led technology changing colour when the vehicle is in a particular mood. The cabin is built for one person and at lower speeds and for exit and entry to the vehicle the cabin is more upright like the photo we took at Toyota’s massive MegaWeb in Tokyo. When the vehicle is traveling at higher speeds the carriage lies back more giving it a more racing feel. The vehicle features a electric engine and is steered using a joystick. To enter the vehicle the whole bonnet and windscreen lift open a bit like a cocoon. The turning circle is rather impressive being able to do a donut in 1.2 metres. It will be interesting to see how long it will be before we are all driving around in these weird vehicles.