I have to say, the Tokyo Motor Show sure made us dream this year. It’s as if the international automotive event is regaining some of the long-lost energy it had in its heyday during the ’80s and ’90s; a time when Japan’s automaker’s impressed with crazy futuristic concepts and cool and quirky sports cars.
And if there was one booth with lots of energy in 2015 it was certainly Yamaha. We all know the great things this bike and musical instrument company is able to inject into cars – some of the best Toyota and Lexus models ever made are testament to that – so when Yamaha announced it would be unveiling a concept car in Tokyo this year, the international media certainly took notice.
Do you remember the OX99-11? Whether you do or don’t, here’s a pretty cool promotional video from Yamaha that features the concept sports car from 1992. I can remember being very excited about the prospect of this machine at the time, then equally depressed when I discovered it would never make it into production.
But the compact and light weight focus that made the OX99-11 so special very much lives on through this new design study from Yamaha – the Sports Ride Concept. The compact machine is based around Gordon Murray’s iStream Carbon Chassis technology, which is an affordable way to implement lightweight composite technologies in a mass-produced car. The concept is beautifully simple – you take a tubular and honeycomb frame core and sandwich it in between two carbon fiber skins. The result is what you see above, and what allows the Sports Ride Concept to hit the scales at just 750kg.
Yamaha’s main idea behind this creation was to bring the feel of riding a bike to a car; an unadulterated experience that so many modern day performance machines lack. Not sure what I’m talking about? Drive a Caterham and then come back to ready the rest of this spotlight.
Aside from the very compact dimensions – envision a car marginally larger than a Toyota MR2 – you can really tell that keeping weight down was the primary focus. That extends all the way to things like tiny bike-type disc brakes at all four corners.
What makes the Sports Ride Concept even more appealing is its feel. For example, the cockpit, although spartan and simple, is very well appointed and exquisitely detailed, almost in a Pagani-like fashion.
The rear end has a very organic style to it. There are many curves that interact on different planes, floating LED taillights and a pair of very high-mounted bike-style taillights. If this car ever makes it to production, surely it would be powered by a Yamaha bike engine. Just imagine the noise it would make…
After seeing this little masterpiece with my own eyes I can only end by begging Yamaha to please, pretty please, with lots of sugar on top – build this car!
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com
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No front 3/4 shot? I have no idea what this car actually looks like.
@DanielWGK LOL!! Nice...
this is so beautiful car ! They should produce it
Is it just me, or it looks like the Toyota FT1 and the new Honda NSX had a baby?
..They did the Yamaha OX99-11 http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ZTx2MP8j--/v9agaoi2dqlictbehynk.jpg
Oh this thing looks cool as hell. They should make it, it would sell in droves I bet. An mr2 spiritual successor.
I like it. Built like this, it would cost way too much, but its cool as hell. If its reliable it'd be a proper MR2 type successor.
Potential Toyota/Suzuki collab project? Tamed-down version of this chassis by Suzuki + cheap 'n cheerful conventional car drivetrain tucked in the back by Toyota = Toyuki. Sell at Toyota dealers as MR2, and at Suzuki dealers as the Sports Ride (or whatever).
New industry standard? All cars sold as twins under different brands?
Yamaha, Yamaha. Don't know why I said Suzuki. My bad.
Yamota? Toyaha?
Looks like the front end was stolen from the TF-1
Needs 2 r1 engines joined at the crank for a 2 liter V8.
Nice overall shape but the styling cues are too weird. They need to make it look a little more normal. Which applies to 99% of new Japanese cars.
godlike
jbfromsiliconvalley your thinking is villanous
DJJAW11 It was a concept
ColinSpears No, that's the whole point of this car and its construction it would actually stay affordable
jbfromsiliconvalley Oh that would be very nice
My favourite car from the show this year - nice Spotlight speedhunters_dino
Anything lightweight between a car and a motorbike always makes me dream! I'm also a big big fan of any three wheeled tilting vehicle, petrol, electric or horse shit propelled LOL. See if I can find some interior pictures of the Yamaha concept, sounds promising. They really should build it for the masses and not only some overpriced limited edition.
"and a pair of very high-mounted bike-style taillights" You mean tail pipes?
LOVE
WOW, what a beauty! Rear view looks so menacing...
Made by Yamaha, then the audio system's quality will be guaranteed also!
Bike engine inside huh... maybe put in an engine from the V-max would be nice...
I'm sure this little car will be really FUN to drive.
Looking forward to production!
I'm so glad that Yamaha is using the iStream building process, I thought this process will be lost to the motoring world. Gordon Murray is a master at building light weight vehicles, so that process should not be underestimated. All it needs now is the engine that @http://www.livefyre.com/profile/79131037/ mentioned
Dino, why do you speak about interior and show us nothing? It's pretty cruel man....
More K sport cars are coming...we had the Elise sad to see it gone...Now we have the alpa Romeo...Miata has always but here but dammit we need another choice
Yes please. Build this car, Yamaha.
Slap in one of those crossplane Yamaha R1 engine, and this car will sounds very different than any other on the road.
And yes I had to agree with greenroadster, you wrote the interior was very good, but no photos of it.
You broke my heart man. Sobs..
speedhunters_dino DJJAW11
And now forgotten because of this...? Oh come on.
http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/10/30/yamaha-sports-ride-concept-first-look-review-at-tokyo-motor-show-2015/
Front 3/4 view plus interior shots. Gorgeous car, for sure.
the car was very good
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