Honda fans can finally rejoice at the official unveiling happening at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, sort of, of the CR-Z coupe. Honda, ever the conservative Japanese car company says that the 2009 CR-Z coupe you see here “remains a concept”, but the car seems production ready to anybody with eyes. Especially since the CR-Z will go on sale in Japan this coming February of 2010 (that’s four months away) and then arrive in North America in the fall. If there’s going to be any major changes, it will be very surprising to see Honda pull it off.

The rather attractive grill from the original 2007 concept has been largely carried over, and still seems like a Honda toned-down interpretation of a Maserati nose to me. The most noticeable changes to the CR-Z being, to some extent, the taller roof and a less raked windshield with A-pillars now blacked out. The higher roof (and the more upright front glass that would have to follow) seems to be compromises allowing people over 4 foot 10 to fit inside.

View gallery after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

More word that Honda is not only getting into the hybrid thing in big ways, but also that the company’s upcoming hybrids will be performance oriented. This is good news, not only for car people with a green bent, but also for sports car lovers. A few months ago, Honda publicized the end of the S2000 Roadster’s 10-year production run, which left the Japanese company without a proper sports car. Now news is out that in addition to the launch of the front-wheel drive CR-Z hybrid coupe in 2010, Honda is also working on a larger and more powerful coupe as a replacement to the S2000. No exact word has bubbled up whether it will actually be a coupe, or hopefully a convertible, although some sources point to the S2000 successor being a 2+2 coupe that would feature the company’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system.

Read the rest of this entry »