Toyota is bringing the funky-looking FT-Bh small hybrid concept to this year’s Geneva auto show. The automaker released some teaser images and video of the FT-Bh, as well as a few morsels of info.
The concept’s name stands for “Future Toyota B-segment hybrid,” which pretty much sums up what you need to know: The FT-Bh is a B-segment-sized, gas/electric vehicle. The video reveals little, but does show enough to portend a radically styled hatchback—just check out the wild taillights and the undulating pillars at the rear. It’s not clear yet if the car has three or five doors, but Toyota claims it will offer interior space similar to that of a five-door B-segment car.
According to Toyota, the FT-Bh was designed around five key fuel-efficiency-boosting tenets: mass reduction, aerodynamic optimization, powertrain efficiency, thermal-energy management, and electrical efficiency. As a result, the FT-Bh apparently weighs less than a three-door Toyota Aygo (which the company says comes in at roughly 1800 pounds). As for the success of the other tenets, at this point Toyota presumably expects us to use our imagination until more info becomes available.
Interestingly, the company says the hybrid’s low weight was accomplished without using fancy materials. No specifics were given regarding the FT-Bh’s “downsized full hybrid powertrain,” but we expect to know more when the concept hits the Geneva show floor.
The LeMons wedding madness started at the infamous Lamest Day 24 Hours of LeMons at Nelson Ledges in 2009. This was the 24-hours-straight race that featured paddock conditions bearing remarkable similarity to the mud of both Woodstock and the Battle of the Somme, and a Camaro-racing couple decided to tie the knot in the tower, just prior to the green flag on Saturday morning.
The happy couple took a victory lap around the track . . .
. . . and then the groom suited up, climbed in the race car, and nuked the engine within minutes of the race start. That’s a story the grandchildren will be telling circa 2041.
LeMons Chief Perpetrator Jay Lamm did such a fine job officiating at the Nelson Ledges wedding that I asked him to do the honors at my wedding the following summer. Sure, my bride’s family includes several ordained ministers, but I felt it would be better to have Chief Perp Jay apply the Nuptial Duct Tape binding our wrists—a LeMons-influenced tradition that I hope catches on with mainstream wedding planners. Remember, duct tape can stick any two objects together— just like a wedding!
After that, Jay was considering a second career performing marriage ceremonies. At the Painfully Bland Bowl of Thin Lukewarm Oatmeal That Can’t Possibly Offend Anyone, No Matter How Much They Enjoy Being Offended, 24-Hour Season Ender race in Florida (so named because Glenn Beck got several angry protesters to hound the track management about the original Cuba Del Norte–themed moniker), he donned his job-interview suit and joined timing-and-scoring gurus Roland and Stephanie in holy matrimony.
That race, at Palm Beach International Raceway, ran a straight 24 hours, ending at midnight on New Year’s Eve 2010. The wedding set the tone for the delirium to follow.
We’re pretty sure that Martha Stewart will be jumping on the LeMons-style wedding bandwagon soon. Look how happy the guests are!
A few months later, at the 2011 Sears Pointless race, one of the members of Team Hit & Run (which entered a 
It was another story for future grandchildren: The team hid the engagement ring inside the car’s air cleaner and arranged with the Justices of the LeMons Supreme Court to find the ring while “looking for cheaty parts.” Total surprise!
Of course the bride-to-be said “yes.” Imagine the pall that would have hung over Team Hit & Run if she’d refused! The RX-7 even ran for most of the weekend, finishing 31st out of 173 entries.
Then Scott Chamberlain, captain of the legendary Porcubimmer team and the man who masterminded the conversion of a BMW 325e into a credible homage to the ’58 Plymouth Fury from “Christine,” got engaged. His racing plans threatened the wedding plans to such an extent that his fiancé commissioned a custom, LeMons-themed dragging-the-grease-smeared-groom-away-from-the-engine-swap wedding-cake topper from Awesome Toppers
Infiniti has said that the EMERG-E will be propelled by an electric motor and will feature an on-board range-extending engine. The pen of Infiniti designer Shiro Nakamura—or at least his influence—is clearly evident in the car, which features Infiniti’s now-ubiquitous bulbous grille and complex surfaces on the doors. It’s an attractive design—if a bit busy—and ought to look great in its intended auto-show habitat. The high-mounted side vents and overall profile bring to mind the Lotus Evora; with the British firm recently beginning to market a range-extender-in-a-box system, we wouldn’t be shocked to learn Lotus contributed to the EMERG-E in some way. This is just a hypothesis, of course—it’s just as likely that Infiniti took a page from Alfa Romeo’s playbook with the 4C and re-skinned, say, the KTM X-Bow, which also features intake vents atop the rear fenders.
At 9:00 AM Sunday, it all starts again. Check in Sunday night to see who won the fourth annual Yee-Haw It’s Texas 24 Hours of LeMons!
