Automotive

Toyota's US design studio looks to the future with Baby Lunar Cruiser

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The Baby Lunar Cruiser is inspired by the rugged design of the original FJ40 Land Cruiser and work on a pressurized rover being developed with JAXA
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser is inspired by the rugged design of the original FJ40 Land Cruiser and work on a pressurized rover being developed with JAXA
Toyota
Toyota's CALTY Design Research studio was responsible for the look of the 1978 Celica
Toyota
The MX-1, one of two concept performance sports cars built into full-scale models by CALTY during the 1980s
Toyota
The Scion NYC concept was developed to explore future transportation trends on big cities
Toyota
Toyota's CALTY Design Research has studios in Newport Beach, California, and Ann Arbor, Michigan
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser rolls on airless tires
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser features plenty of glass for all-around visibility
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser is propelled by in-wheel electric motors
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser is a look at future land transport, on this world and beyond
Toyota
The Baby Lunar Cruiser features onboard cameras, LiDAR and radar
Toyota
The AR-enhanced dashboard live feeds data from the Baby Lunar Cruiser's onboard sensors
Toyota
View gallery - 11 images

Toyota's CALTY Design Research studio celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, having been responsible for "everything from the 1978 Toyota Celica to the 2024 Toyota Tacoma." The futuristic Baby Lunar Cruiser concept has been created to mark the occasion.

CALTY Design Research quietly opened its doors in El Segundo, California, in 1973 and operated for five years before expanding into new premises at Newport Beach, where it came up with the design for the second-generation Celica.

After building scale models of mid-engined performance sports concepts, the studio settled into its own groove and produced designs for production vehicles such as the 1995 Tacoma and Avalon, 1997 Prius, 2001 Highlander and RAV4, and the Camry NASCAR in 2013, 2015 and 2018. The concepts continued to roll out too, including an oddball called the Scion NYC.

The Scion NYC concept was developed to explore future transportation trends on big cities
Toyota

Toyota is currently working on the development of a pressurized rover named the Lunar Cruiser in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and this has inspired the CALTY team to come up with the Baby Lunar Cruiser concept.

Said to blend the "futuristic capabilities of an interplanetary exploration vehicle" with the rugged design language of the original FJ40 Land Cruiser 4x4, the concept EV is controlled by dual joysticks and gets around via in-wheel motors.

The Baby Lunar Cruiser is propelled by in-wheel electric motors
Toyota

Those wheels are wrapped in airless tires. There's plenty of glass for all-around visibility, and the augmented-reality dashboard appears to show live feeds from "a full array of cameras and LiDAR/radar sensors." The interior can be configured to suit the mission via Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) panels, and the seating is adjustable too. Loading at the rear is helped by a split tailgait.

Naturally, since this is a concept only, such things as performance specs and detailed build info are lacking, but the CALTY team has gone on to make its ideas real in the past, so maybe we'll see a working model roll out in the near future.

Source: Toyota

View gallery - 11 images
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3 comments
Tristan P
I've mixed feelings about the look. The front end is lacking smooth lines, and looks rather disjointed and clunky.
Chase
If this is a hint of things to come, the future looks terrible.
WB
God Toyota is really struggling .. I mean any can just put random meaningless sh!t out