Brain...Jammed Vandals Destroy Seven New Toyota Models at 2011 Chicago Auto Show

Auto shows seem to have become risky business for car manufacturers. After the BMW 750i that was stolen at the Detroit motor show earlier this year, now more disturbing news comes from the Chicago Auto Show, where the Toyota booth attracted unwanted attention.

According to local newspapers, seven new Toyota models had their interiors vandalized by three young men, aged 20, 21 and 28. We don"t know what really caused this deviant behavior, but one report attributes it to the fact that the three vandals were allegedly angry "about American jobs going overseas".

And it seems they wanted the Japanese cars to suffer badly, judging from the tools they used - screwdrivers and razor knives. The three young men were arrested on Wednesday evening before the show"s closing time when guards noticed them acting suspiciously around a Toyota Camry. The mess they made inside the seven cars is substantial: dashboards were left smashed and ripped, seat upholstery sliced, windshields scratched, speakers cut open and turn indicators broken.

According to the police, the damage to the cars is estimated at $30,000. Interestingly, they had no preference for a particular model, vandalizing a Camry, a RAV4, a Land Cruiser, a Prius, two Tundras and one Lexus ES350. Funny thing, no accelerator pedal or floor mat were damaged...

Geneva Preshow: Toyota iQ Pure-Electric Prototype

An all-electric prototype of the Toyota iQ will make its European debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The iQ EV is equipped with an electric motor fed through a newly developed, flat and compact lithium-ion battery that is mounted under the car"s floor. According to Toyota, the battery pack doesn"t reduce the regular iQ"s load area or passenger space. The all-electric version of Toyota"s mini car is said to have a potential driving range of up to 65 miles or about 105 kilometers.
The EV prototype is currently being tested on European roads, with a potential market launch through a leasing programme in 2012. The Japanese company will also bring the car in the USA (as a Scion) and is also investigating its viability in other regions.

The iQ EV prototype will join three more new models at the firm"s Geneva Salon stand including Yaris HSD hybrid concept, the European market variant of the Prius+ minivan with seven seats, and a closer to production concept of the FT-86 rear-wheel drive coupe.

Toyota FT-86 II: Pre-Production Concept Teased ahead of Geneva Show

An almost production ready iteration of the much-hyped Toyota FT-86 sports coupe concept will be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva motor show in the beginning of March. Along with the announcement, the Japanese automaker also published a teaser shot of the FT-86 II hiding under a garage door. The picture shows the rear-wheel drive model"s front end which features a modified bumper that does away with the side air vents and gains a slightly different center grille and more concave surfaces on both corners.

Toyota did not give out any other details on the car simply stating that "the FT-86 II concept will give the clearest indication yet of the final design for Toyota"s next sports car."

The Toyota FT-86 II will be joined at the Geneva Motor Show by a concept version of its Subaru counterpart, which will keep the same rear-wheel drive configuration. Both cars will be offered at launch with a Subaru-sourced four-cylinder boxer engine. The production version of the FT-86 is expected to reach showrooms early next year.

Toyota Avensis BTCC a Step Closer to its Racing Debut

The touring car version of Toyota"s Avensis sedan has moved a step closer to its competition debut following extensive wind tunnel testing at MIRA"s aerodynamic analysis facility. The Avensis NGTC (Next Generation Touring Car) is being constructed by GPR Motorsport and is scheduled to hit the tarmac for the first time in the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch on 3 April.

As you can see in the photo below, the NGTC specification Avensis was joined in the MIRA wind tunnel by a road-going model equipped with a rear wing as the TOCA technical staff wanted to establish a baseline for the car?s aerodynamics.

?We needed to fix a position for the rear wing, based on the aerodynamics of the road car, which gave the levels of downforce we were looking for,? said the championship?s technical director, Peter Riches. ?I am pleased to say that this was quickly achieved, and it means that we now have a base line for all cars built to the NGTC regulations and have saved a lot of development time and potential expense for the teams.?

The Japanese firm is not competing in the series with a works team, but does supply the donor cars and body shells to GPR Motorsport. Up until now, two private teams - Dynojet and Speedworks - have taken up the challenge to run in the Avensis, but the company said it hoped that their example will be followed by others "looking to take advantage of the reduced costs of development associated with the new car".