Japanese cars

The FCX concept is Honda's latest take on fuel cells. Although its ultra-cab-forward body looks dramatically long, low, and wide, at 186 inches (15.5 feet) in overall length, the FCX is actually shorter than the Acura RL. It features a compact, Honda-developed fuel-cell stack in the middle of the car with two hydrogen tanks in the rear. The stack is actually much smaller than is now technologically feasible, but Honda says that it shows "our dream."

While Mazda continues to develop its fascinating gas/hydrogen-powered rotary RX-8 (it should be available in Japan in 2006), it showed something even more advanced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, a rotary hybrid version of the latest Mazda 5.