This has been a huge week for the automotive industry with both the Los Angeles Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show happening simultaneously. With so many new and interesting vehicles being unveiled on both sides of the Pacific, it’s time to take a quick look through some of the exciting machinery that’s been debuted.
Let’s begin in the City of Angels, which is where Jaguar took the wraps off its new F-Type Coupe – a car which adds a handsome fixed roofline to the already sexy F-Type Roadster.
The car will be available in three trim levels, with the top of the line R model being powered by a 550 horsepower supercharged 5.0 liter V8.
As you can see, the car has worked in a lot of styling cues from the popular CX-16 Concept, and it’s sure to be another solid addition to Jag’s increasingly potent car line-up.
Mercedes Benz meanwhile used LA to debut the SLS AMG GT Final Edition. Yes, SLS production will soon be ending and AMG has released this special edition model to mark the occasion.
With production limited to just 350 units, the car will be available in both coupe and roadster form, and after that the SLS is gone for good. Special touches include an exposed carbon fiber hood along with unique interior trim and badging. It’s one of those cars that’s sure to become a collector’s item in the future.
If you see the special edition SLS AMG being a little mundane, you might be more excited to see the Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo Concept.
Although this thing is clearly an imaginative concept rather than something that’s production friendly, it does provide a very interesting glimpse at AMG’s future.
Perhaps we will see the successor to the soon-to-be-departed SLS looking something like this? Time will tell.
Porsche has always had a big presence at the LA Auto Show, and this year’s big debut definitley isn’t made for the purist. This is the Macan, a compact SUV that’s essentially a baby Cayenne.
The Macan will be available with a few different powerplants, with the top of the line Macan Turbo powered by a 400 horsepower twin turbo 3.6 V6.
Japan strikes back
On the more accessible end of the spectrum, Nissan showed off the surprisingly cool Sentra Nismo Concept in Los Angeles. Back in the early ’90s the original Sentra SE-R was a favorite among the budget-oriented car enthusiast, and this car appears to bring back some of that magic.
It’s got unique body parts, upgraded wheels and brakes, an LSD and most importantly, a 240 horsepower turbocharged four cylinder under the hood.
It seems that no automaker was busier than Subaru this week, with several big debuts happening in both Los Angeles and Tokyo. In LA, one of the stars was the Legacy Concept, which hints at the future of the popular sedan.
The current Legacy has never given off a particularity strong aura, but the concept suggests the new car could be sleeker and more muscular. Thumbs up to that.
Even more interesting though, was the official debut of the 2015 WRX in LA. We’ve long been waiting to see what the next gen WRX will be like, and now we know.
Available as a sedan only, the new WRX will have 268 horsepower from a 2.0 liter turbo engine and will be offered with both a six-speed manual or a CVT. The real question now is, what will the new STI look like?
Heading several thousand miles across the Pacific to Tokyo now, we have Subaru’s Levorg Concept.
Sized larger than the Impreza, the Levorg is a very production-friendly wagon that can be had with a 296 horsepower 2.0 liter turbo boxer motor – and of course it has room for the whole family.
But the most exciting thing Subaru showed this week may be the Cross Sport Design Concept. Despite the strange name, the car very clearly shows what a BRZ shooting brake could look like.
How can you not like the idea of a BRZ hatchback? I’ll take mine sans the fender cladding and increased ride height, please.
Long live the enthusiast
Toyota meanwhile showed off a new version of its FT-86 Open Concept in Tokyo.
This is the same car we saw in Geneva now coated in red, but the fact that it’s being shown once again suggests Toyota is still thinking about building one.
An open-roof 86 would certainly be a nice way to broaden the line-up and to give some competition to the Mazda MX-5, wouldn’t it?
Honda also came out fighting in Tokyo, showing not only the upcoming NSX and S660 Concept, but the 2015 Civic Type R.
The new car represents a big comeback for the beloved Type R with the addition of a turbocharged 276 horsepower Earth Dreams four cylinder.
Isn’t it pretty strange to think that this Civic has a horsepower rating almost identical to the Supra and Skyline GT-R of the ’90s? Oh how far we’ve come.
Speaking of the GT-R, it seems every time you blink your eyes there’s a new and improved version of the R35 around – and now we have the 2015 Nismo GT-R.
Being called the ultimate iteration of the GT-R, the 600 horsepower monster certainly looks poised to take things to a new level. I’m looking forward to reading Dino’s test drive impressions.
Last, but absolutely not least we have the car that’s stolen the show – the Nissan IDx Freeflow, which you can read more about in Dino’s report from the show floor.
I will say though that I’m personally in love with it. I honestly haven’t been this excited about a new car since the original FT-86 Concept from several years ago. Please build it Nissan!
Mike Garrett
Instagram: speedhunters_mike
mike@speedhunters.com