A few months ago I posted some photos from Tokyo Motor Show 2007; Featured on one of those photos was an awesome-looking Honda CR-Z, a futuristic, hybrid concept car that looked like something that had escaped from a Sci-Fi movie.
Here is that same photo so you can see what I am talking about:
Someone commented on that post, wondering if this concept car was going to be produced, and I most ignorantly told that person that there was little chance of that happening, since Japanese carmakers always come up with a multitude of radical concepts that aren’t meant to get past its “concept” stage.
Then, late last year I saw a huge sign on the window of my local Honda dealer shop that read “NEW SPORTY HYBRID – HONDA CR-Z COMING IN FEBRUARY! PRE-ORDER YOURS TODAY!”.
So, yeah… my apologies to the person who commented. It looks like I’d made the wrong assumption. They really are going to make the CR-Z! I’m also really late in getting this news… I would’ve found out a lot sooner if I’d been looking at the news from Tokyo Motor Show 2009.
Amazingly, the production model (or rather the 2009 concept based on it) looks very similar to the concept; something that in my opinion doesn’t happen very often, especially with a design like the CR-Z’s. Look at the photo below.. looks a lot like the car in the photo above doesn’t it?
Certainly bears a lot more resemblancec than that Suzuki Kizashi from a year or two ago, which although in its concept stage looked fresh and innovative, turned out to be really plain-looking when it eventually went into production.
See how the Kizashi transformed from this… into this.
Not much semblance between the two, is there? Now I know it’s not really fair to be setting Kizashi as an example here, but when you compare different stages of these two cars, it’s easy to see that Honda actually did a very good job in staying in line with the original design.
For anyone interested, here’s a gallery full of spoilerific CR-Z photos (Japanese site):
Honda CR-Z Photo Gallery
I wouldn’t mind owning one of these babies, although with only 2 seats I’m not so sure if it will be a bit hit among practical people with family members. What do you think? Would you want to become an owner of a CR-Z?
Honda will start selling the car on February 26 in Japan. Looking forward to how this “sports hybrid” will do out there on the market!
Oh yes, and if you’re looking to buy a quality used car from Japan, keep checking Autocom Japan’s online showcase of vehicles. Sorry there’s no CR-Z in the list (since there’s no such thing as a used CR-Z yet) but there are many other great Japanese cars for you to see. Enjoy!