Honda’s Adorable New Concepts Are Pint-Sized Rays of Sunshine
The Tokyo Auto Salon, a delightful auto show that generally shows off the best and funkiest Japan has to offer, is going virtual this year, just like SEMA and other recent shows that weren’t outright canceled due to the global pandemic. Honda’s come through with a couple of intriguing and adorable concepts that add some attitude to the tiny Fit and N-Van.
The Fit you see here is the latest-generation car, now available as a hybrid (e:HEV) biased strongly towards pure electric drive modes. This one is called the 2022 Fit e:HEV Crosstar Custom, and it takes the Fit’s outdoorsy Crosstar trim level to a logical extreme. It builds on the main styling elements of the Crosstar—a blacked-out roof and pillars, roof rails, a smidge more ride height, and water-resistant seat material—and adds a bold strip of cladding to the middle of the doors, steel wheels, Toyota all-terrain tires, a Yakima roof rack, and Honda E-inspired lamps in the lower fascia. It’s partly inspired by the retro Honda CT125 Hunter Cub motorcycle, too. It’s still not really a crossover, but it sure looks fun.
Meanwhile, the N-Van Custom “3rd Place”—we don’t understand what the name’s about, but maybe it makes more sense in the original Japanese—is an adorable little mobile cafe. The remarkable space efficiency of kei vehicles like the N-Van is fully on display. There’s even a cute little striped awning. The metal-effect finish gives it an industrial design look, like an Airstream trailer converted for catering use or perhaps an iconic Moka pot, and the black steel wheels add to its vintage vibe. The clearance lights above the windshield are cool, but we doubt this thing is as wide as the FORD script in the grille of an F-150 Raptor, so they’re also a bit of a laugh.
Honda will drop more details and photos of these two concepts when they’re officially revealed on January 15th, and we’re hoping they’ll have some surprises for us, too. Until then, you can fantasize about seeing these in person at the Tokyo Auto Salon in some alternate universe.