Lexus
Start the school year right: by packing your pencils and books into the comfort of a sports car backpack.
Lexus has always admired the skills of the craftsmen and women who work on their production lines in Japan. Known as takumi, these highly trained Japanese production workers hone their dexterity skills by learning to fold an origami cat in 90 seconds—using only their non-dominant hand.
Now, Lexus UK has unveiled a stunning tribute to these skilled workers by creating a life-sized replica of the Lexus IS, using 1,700 pieces of laser-cut cardboard in what they’re calling the “Origami Car”. Complete with an electric motor, the cardboard vehicle can actually be driven. With the cardboard seats and interior, it won’t be an entirely practical, or legal, ride, but it would certainly be a memorable one!
As a young lad I often watched Flight of the Navigator and dreamed of flying around with Sara Jessica Parker in a spaceship that talked like Pee-Wee Herman. What child didn’t?
But most exciting was how beautifully shiny that ship was. Image if a car could be that shiny too. Actually, stop imagining because our reporter stumbled across one such vehicle at a Toyota event at Tokyo Midtown.
This must be a summer for fake funerals. In July, Hatsune Miku found herself interred in Nico Nico Douga videos following a politician’s speculative remarks. And now a Lexus car is at the center of a new round of Internet amusement after some commenters noted that the company’s “car delivery ceremony” is oddly similar to a funeral.
A 25-year-old man was arrested for theft in Iwakuni City on 14 May after taking a new Lexus for a test drive from a dealership in Kurashiki City, two prefectures and 180 km (112 mi) away.
According to the police investigation, the suspect Shota Ishibashi wanted to visit his grandmother in Fukuoka, 422 km (262 mi) away. However, being unemployed he was unable to afford the trip. Then he got a brilliant idea and headed down to his local Toyota dealer.
Son, have you been drinking tonight?
Yes officer, I must say I’ve enjoyed a few libations this evening.
Well, I think you’d better step out of the car; we’ve got some pretty strict laws against that kind of stuff in this state.
But I wasn’t driving officer!
Isn’t anyone else in the car, son. Seems you’ve had more than just ‘a few’.
Honestly, Officer! Mr. Toyota has been at the controls the whole time…
Toyota Motor Corporation announced it would be unveiling a self-driving car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held in Las Vegas January 8 to 11, 2013. The car, a Lexus LS600, is outfitted with radars, cameras and an array of sensors that allow it to be cognizant of its immediate environment.
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