Design

Over the years we've seen a fair number of ultimate garages that have quickened our pulses -  everything from a Porsche 911 Turbo hidden beneath a garden to architectural marvels that integrate home and garage for museum-quality automobile displays. Some car domiciles have been like something out of Batman while others are fit to grace covers of high-design publications like Dwell. 

While we definitely appreciated the clean modern aesthetics of Architecture Digest and Maserati's Ultimate Garage winner Holger Schubert's Brentwood home, the masterpiece just completed by well-known Japanese architect Takuya Tsuchida raises the game up no less than two notches.

The Tokyo Motor show has always had a large offering of interesting concepts and looks into the future.  Surely a sign of these economic times; this year’s show may have had less flash then the years past.  But what it lacked in crazy designs it made up for in concepts grounded in reality.  For an enthusiast, this seems more far exciting.  Seeing what we will be driving, and what technology will be available relatively soon; rather than daydreaming about some uber exotic design study from the far off future.

One would assume the highlight of Toyota’s showing would be the high status Lexus LFA making its debut.  Already known for its record-breaking lap around the German Nurburgring, the automobile so exclusive, the company is hand-selecting people to be able to purchase it.  Along with Nissan’s GT-R, it has raised the bar for Japanese automakers, and given the Germans and Italians a lot more to competition to worry about.  With all that said, the spotlight was instead given to Toyota’s FT-86 concept.