Skip to main content

CIAS 2016 Preview: Toyota’s U Squared Set for Edgy Global Premiere in Toronto

Photo Credit: Toyota Canada Inc.


The Canadian International AutoShow always features a lively and eclectic group of automobiles. This year’s show pledges to offer the greatest of 2016 cars, trucks, vans, crossovers, and almost any other class of passenger vehicle on four wheels. Some of the most engaging concept vehicles also arrive in Toronto every year as a firsthand opportunity for Canadians of the great city to chart what progress is upcoming for automobiles.

Many times attendees of the Canadian show are the first in the country to witness the bold and high-tech future but we face the reality that we are not the first public members to examine such designs. Sometimes automakers even send concept vehicles that were first displayed several years ago to Toronto. Having brought the i-Road, FV2 Concept and the Fun-VII to previous iterations of the Canadian International AutoShow, Toyota will embark on a fairly uncommon vehicle. As much as their concept design is striking amongst itself, the vehicle significance comes with it making a global debut in Toronto.

The Toyota U2  (or U Squared) will premiere at the 2016 Canadian International AutoShow as a truck-like mobile solution. Targeted towards entrepreneurs and so-called ‘Makers’, the Toyota U2  features unique utilitarian styling. A highly distinctive departure for Toyota, the outer shell of the concept has an offbeat urban flair. The grille and headlight treatment is among the unusual traits of the Toyota U2 since they share no resemblance to any other Toyota product produced in North America. The Toyota logo is substituted by lettering mirroring a characteristic style familiar to US and Canadian care buyers of the Japanese brand up to the 1990s.

Dubbed as an urban utility concept, the Toyota U2 will showcase an unhinged flexibility inside. “From its retracting roof panels, to its uniquely configurable utility rail system, the U2 offers a concept vehicle that is only limited by the imagination,” said vice president of sales for Toyota Canada Inc. Cyril Dimitris.

More details of the Toyota U2 concept will be present later this week as the 2016 Canadian International AutoShow is set to entertain an anxious automotive crowd. In addition to the U2, the Toyota exhibit will also feature the all-new 2016 Toyota Prius, RAV4 Hybrid and virtual reality simulators.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Canadian Star Car: Red Green's Possum Van

Clip of Possum Van during a Red Green Show season 1 scene transition.  It could be argued that the car someone regularly drives can be reflective of their personality. The level of character traits found in our automobiles can range from subtle to flamboyant as practicality, style, power, brand loyalty and other details are factors influencing our vehicle affection. On the big screen and silver screen, an automobile (frequently popularized as a Star Car) can be used to affirmatively to expand on a human character. Batman’s Batmobile, the Dodge Charger called the ‘General Lee’ in Dukes of Hazzard, the Volvo P1800 featured in the 1960s television version of The Saint, the Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in some of the most famous spy movies are some popular examples where vehicles play a major role in reinforcing the appearance of fictional individuals. Due to the budgetary constraints of Canadian media productions, the presence of native Star Cars is rare. However, one success...
Post a Comment
Read more

Honda’s Secret 30th Anniversary In Indy Car Racing

Photo Credit: Engine Developments Ltd. Too many times, forgetting an anniversary would end with someone spending time in the proverbial doghouse. This has apparently happened this year as the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season concluded with no major celebrations or recognition for what is 30 years since a major current partner of American open wheel racing began participation in the sport. The following article is a collection of the details I’ve learned as well as some insight from engine builder John Judd on what was a quiet 30th anniversary in the Verizon IndyCar Series. During the week where the 30th running of the Canadian street race now known as the Honda Indy Toronto, I was compelled to capture the flavour of the inaugural event. The viewing experience provided me some insight into a period of time where I was too young to absorb auto racing in the manner I do today. A race that featured television coverage with no regular onscreen statistics, the league used a local ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 1967 Indy 500: When An STP-Sponsored Turbine Almost Changed Racing

Photo Credit: Uncredited Photographer/IMS LLC Racing has always been the ultimate proving ground for automobiles. Not only has competition promoted innovations big and small, race cars have also influenced overall vehicle appearance. At the 1967 Indianapolis 500, the STP-Paxton TurboCar fielded by the late Andy Granatelli provided a shocking example of how much racing at the speedway evolved over 56 years. Ever since the first 500-mile event was held at the 2.5-mile rectangular oval Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1911, the winning Marmon Wasp with a rearview mirror paved the way for what would be a grand showcase of automotive development. Accompanying “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” advancements in automobile technology showed greater sophistication with every passing decade in the quest for more speed. During the 1920s and 1930s, American race car designer Henry Miller offered groundbreaking engines to the Indianapolis 500. Miller also gave front-wheel drive technology it...
Post a Comment
Read more