Toyota lays Kikai wide open with inside-out concept

The engine is mid-mounted and completely uncovered - so are things like the exhaust and suspension

Like the Pompidou Centre, Toyota’s new Kikai concept has been turned inside out.

Its bodywork covers three seats, a funky-but-basic dash and not a lot more. And under the bonnet is… nothing much.

The engine is mid-mounted and completely uncovered. So are things like the exhaust and suspension.

It looks a bit like what might happen if you tried to mate a city car with a quad bike. But Toyota says it’s just there to let people enjoy looking at how a car works. ’While most vehicles conceal their inner workings, this concept encourages us to appreciate the complex beauty of the mechanical aspects of cars.’

On that subject, what’s that engine beneath the… er, behind the cabin? Toyota didn’t tell us. So that’s one complex bit of mechanical beauty that must remain unappreciated.