Photo: kolesaru / Instagram
2023 was a very important year for Toyota as the Japanese automaker reverted the slump caused by the pandemics, the microchip crisis, and all the other supply chain disruptions. As such, it allowed itself to look brightly towards the future.
During those days of euphoria, the Asian company also felt that automotive events should be taken seriously once again – including the inaugural edition of the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, an event formerly known as the Tokyo Motor Show for almost seven decades. There, it presented an entire roster of ideas. Lexus, for example, shone brightly with the LF-ZL and LF-ZC premieres.
The namesake Toyota brand, meanwhile, had so many introductions they also revealed some of them days before the event took place. There was the all-new FT-3e crossover SUV bundled with the FT-Se sports car, a Land Hopper concept that everyone thought was a smaller Land Cruiser but turned out to be a three-wheel EV mobility concept that had nothing to do with the iconic off-road-focused SUV. Speaking of Land Cruiser, the Se prototype shows an electric way forward for the 4x4 legend, and off-beat reveals included the Honda and Toyota off-road side-by-side HySE-X1 with a hydrogen-burning supercharger. There were also true weirdos like the Kayoibako EV minivan – basically a 'configurable shipping container' on wheels and the X-Van Gear Concept made by the Toyota Auto Body subsidiary.
The latter was a quirky MPV with crossover traits but also with front and rear sliding doors, no B-pillars, and the general allure of a (shoe)boxy little SUV. Well, as it turns out, there wasn't smoke without fire because the IMV 0 concept wasn't the only one set for series production. Instead, a recent design patent filed for a crossover minivan with a rugged design and many off-road traits hints at a potential series production of the X-Van Gear prototype, and maybe it will even come complete with those crazy front sliding doors!
Well, if the patent application doesn't pan out, no worries; the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators have us covered again. More precisely, the good folks at Kolesa, along with their resident pixel master Nikita Chuicko, aka kelsonik on social media, have imagined the series-produced X-Van. As a matter of fact, it wasn't hard to do it – the pixel master had guidance thanks to the concept and the leaked design patent and knows that, if real, the quirky crossover MPV will arrive on the market with almost no design changes compared to the JMS prototype.
For sure, if Toyota goes through with this introduction, the Japanese automaker will have one of the most interesting ideas – though it remains to be seen if people are receptive to the idea of a rugged crossover minivan that looks like someone squashed it and tried to fit it between two narrow buildings!
The namesake Toyota brand, meanwhile, had so many introductions they also revealed some of them days before the event took place. There was the all-new FT-3e crossover SUV bundled with the FT-Se sports car, a Land Hopper concept that everyone thought was a smaller Land Cruiser but turned out to be a three-wheel EV mobility concept that had nothing to do with the iconic off-road-focused SUV. Speaking of Land Cruiser, the Se prototype shows an electric way forward for the 4x4 legend, and off-beat reveals included the Honda and Toyota off-road side-by-side HySE-X1 with a hydrogen-burning supercharger. There were also true weirdos like the Kayoibako EV minivan – basically a 'configurable shipping container' on wheels and the X-Van Gear Concept made by the Toyota Auto Body subsidiary.
The latter was a quirky MPV with crossover traits but also with front and rear sliding doors, no B-pillars, and the general allure of a (shoe)boxy little SUV. Well, as it turns out, there wasn't smoke without fire because the IMV 0 concept wasn't the only one set for series production. Instead, a recent design patent filed for a crossover minivan with a rugged design and many off-road traits hints at a potential series production of the X-Van Gear prototype, and maybe it will even come complete with those crazy front sliding doors!
Well, if the patent application doesn't pan out, no worries; the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators have us covered again. More precisely, the good folks at Kolesa, along with their resident pixel master Nikita Chuicko, aka kelsonik on social media, have imagined the series-produced X-Van. As a matter of fact, it wasn't hard to do it – the pixel master had guidance thanks to the concept and the leaked design patent and knows that, if real, the quirky crossover MPV will arrive on the market with almost no design changes compared to the JMS prototype.
For sure, if Toyota goes through with this introduction, the Japanese automaker will have one of the most interesting ideas – though it remains to be seen if people are receptive to the idea of a rugged crossover minivan that looks like someone squashed it and tried to fit it between two narrow buildings!
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