Since the 1930s, concept cars have proven to be an effective and engaging way for manufacturers like Toyota to showcase new ideas, designs and technologies.
Sometimes Toyota’s concept cars have provided previews of forthcoming production models, prototypes of the vehicles that you and I will be driving two or three years hence. At the opposite end of the spectrum, other Toyota concept cars have been automotive flights of fancy, an exercise in letting designers and engineers create an impression of how vehicles and technology will blend together in a future society, perhaps 20 or 30 years down the line.
In a series of blog posts, we examine a number of concept cars from Toyota’s history that demonstrate both aspects of concept design – see below for links to each chosen concept. And if you’d like to discover more about how Toyota takes a concept idea and turns it into a physical reality, read this excellent post that explains the five processes of Toyota design.
2017: Toyota FT-AC
2017: Toyota FT-4X
2015: Toyota S-FR, FCV Plus and KIKAI
2015: Toyota C-HR
2014: Toyota FT-1
2013: Toyota i-Road
2011: Toyota Fun-vii
2011: Toyota FT-86 II Sports Concept
2003: Toyota FINE-S
2001: Toyota RSC
1995: Toyota Prius
1995: Toyota Moguls
1981: Toyota SV-2
1971: Toyota RV-1
1971: Toyota SV-1
1970: Toyota EX-7
1962: Toyota Publica Sports
See also:
The five processes of Toyota design
The philosophy of Toyota design
The voices of Toyota design
Toyota Design: A smile says it all
Toyota Design: being a designer
Toyota Design: beauty, art and design
Toyota Design: a decade of awards
