39th Tokyo Motor Show (Highlights & Sidelights Part 2)

Having taken advantage of the past holidays to catch up with my TV show’s required out-of-town tapings; I failed to get back on time to meet the deadline for last week’s column, in which I had lined up the continuation of my account of the recently held Tokyo Motor Show. So if I may.

The theme for this year’s show was "Driving Tomorrow — from Tokyo". It wised to express the Tokyo Motor Show’s commitment to being the festive place where people can experience the world’s most advanced technologies and designs, while at the same time serving as a source of up-to-the-minute information on interactions between the automobile and motorized society, focusing on the evolution of the automobile en ever more environment-friendly directions.

The Tokyo Motor Show has more than half a century of history behind it, having first begun at Hibiya Park in 1954. This is the last year that it will be devoted to passenger cars and motorcycles. It has been announced that starting 2007 the motor show will be redesigned to include commercial vehicles and would similarly be held every two years.

To help alleviate congestion as continually experienced in recent years, the show was extended this year by four days running a total of 17 days making it the longest of any major international motor show in the world, exceeding even the 16 days of the Paris Motor Show staged in 2004 but at par with the 15th Tokyo Motor Show, which was held in 1968.

I was there during the first two days of the show, which was exclusive for the local and international media with the 2nd day to specially include those in wheelchairs for their better and comfortable viewing considering 1.4 million people came last year with an improved attendance of 1.5 targeted for this year. Despite the exclusive viewing during the press days one of the well-attended attractions, which I can very well presume will have long queues when it opened to the public, was the Gran Turismo 4 Test Drive Arena, where the PlayStation 2 racing game was put up by Sony Computer Entertainment together with the "Tourist Trophy" motorcycle game, another PlayStation 2 exclusive yet to be launched this December.

Motor Show Standouts

Honda’s "Sports 4 Concept" is a 4-door concept sports sedan that features the SH-AWD or Super Handling All-Wheel Drive. Its other main specifications include next generation sports cockpit designed for at-a-glance rcognition and intuitive control, pop-up monitor for intelligent night vision system, SD-AWD monitor for instant recognition of rive poer allocation visible from all 4 seats and personal sky roof with four independent personal shades for open-air feeling.

Another concept car on display that got the media’s eye at the Honda display was the "W.O.W. Concept", which is built around Honda’s ideas of how to make family life on the road more enjoyable and fun. It’s a new Honda concept that makes life with man’s best friend happier. The interior is packed wit ideas to make a dogs life on the road more comfortable including creates where your dog can safely ride.

At the Toyota display the Estima Hybrid Concept car got the nod of many as it features an expansive and relaxing cabin that creates an unprecedented "super-relaxation space". It has a 2.4 liter, in-line four cylinder engine coupled with a 650 volt nickel-metal hydride battery.

Toyota’s single-passenger "i-swing" concept car is Japan’s largest auto manufacturer’s proposal for a new form of mobility. Battery run, this concept car offers two driving modes: two-wheel and three-wheel.

The offerings at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show can best be appreciated when seen rather than read and this opportunity we offer all the automobile enthusiasts on our TV show Auto Focus (Saturday, 11 pm, Channel 4 Manila and nationwide via satellite on the National Broadcasting Network) starting this Saturday, November 12. We shall also be featuring many of the standout automobiles shown this year on the TV show Motoring Today’s Showcase segment.

Sunshine Television would like to thank Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. and Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation for the opportunity to be able to take footage of the different automobiles displayed at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show.

After more than 2 years of hard labor — the "grand start"

It all started as a dream for a group of motoring journalists who, while shooting the breeze over some drinks, realized that they have always been writing about the near chaos in our streets already beginning to be a daily routine mainly because of undisciplined and uneducated drivers and even pedestrians, but have never really done anything about it themselves. They moaned and ranted about what seemed to be a hopeless culture but have not actually tried to do something to alleviate the situation.

And so this group of journalists composed of editors, TV producers, hosts, columnists and contributing writers who are all involved in motoring now known as SPMJ, Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists unanimously decided on embarking on an advocacy — Road Safety Education for the Youth.

SPMJ decided to zero in on the young minds as they would be easier to mold rather than "teach the old dogs new tricks" and leave the present crop of unmanageable and badly behaved drivers and pedestrians for the authorities to handle.

For the lack of funds to have teaching modules developed, the group started a tradition of a yearly "Golf for Cause" Tournament pitting the top executives of the different automobile companies. Aside form the funds raised out of the tournament, SPMJ also established itself as a catalyst of fellowship and camaraderie among the otherwise keenly competing players in the industry.

To make sure that the "modules" would meet the highest standards in educational requirements the group commissioned no less than the NCTS, National Center for Transportation Studies of the University of the Philippines to develop them prior to their use on the seminars geared towards elementary and high school students and to the teachers who will use them.

As though "divinely scripted", after all the arduous efforts to fund and develop the "teaching modules" were finally finished, the first benefactor to "adopt" the first 20 schools to benefit from these "free seminars" for teachers and students on Road Safety came up to be counted — TMPC, Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation.

Finally, the first of these seminars shall be held this Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12 at the UP Integrated School in Katipunan Road, Quezon City — actually "finally" is a misnomer — it’s only the beginning.

According to SPMJ’s Project Director, Quito Da Roza, he’s still in the process of making the list of beneficiary schools (High Schools located within Metro Manila) to complete the twenty (20) that Toyota Motor Philippines shall "adopt" to be given these seminars on road safety designed to make disciplined and educated drivers and pedestrians out of our young students. So principals, teachers, parents or event students who may want to be part of this short list of schools may contact SPMJ through our e-mail [email protected].

We are actually expecting the parents, especially, who would urge their schools to have these seminars conducted as their children would best benefit from them. The children are counted as the biggest number of victims in road accidents and in these seminars they would be taught how to be safe as soon as they step out of their homes.

Happy Motoring!!!

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