Among all the ultra-connected, electric-powered autonomous cars that visited the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, Toyota’s Kikai concept actually looks to keep things simple.
Ever since this car made its debut at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, the media called it plenty of clever names, such as “hot rod”, “analog” and even “anti-connected”, which is appropriate seen as how this is the age of connectivity.
The reason why this concept looks the way it does is because Toyota wanted to remind people that regardless of how much on-board tech you stuff your car with, the vehicle itself will always function because of its mechanical principals first and foremost, and not because you can sync your iPhone with it and get it to park itself.
In Tokyo, the Japanese automaker also stated that the Kikai “reminds us of the appeal of the physical and tactile in a digital age,” which is true, though some people who’ve voiced their opinions about it seem to think it looks ridiculous.
So in a weird way, the Kikai would be the ideal car to park next to something like Nissan’s IDS concept, since you’d end up with a sort of “past versus future” type of image.
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