MME Goes To Japan Part 2: Exploring Mega Web, Possibly The Best Showroom Ever
Taking of the tour of the showroom that doubles as a theme park
By Imthishan Giado
Read Part 1 of our epic Japan Trip here!
In the UAE, we are blessed with an abundance of car showrooms, some of which can even conceivably claim to be the biggest ones in the world. But frankly, size is no substitute for substance and I can safely bet that you’ve never seen a showroom quite like Mega Web.
The first thing you have to know is that Mega Web actually isn’t a showroom, and you can’t actually buy a car here. The full range of products is on display, but there are no sales staff, no receptionists and no delivery area. The correct name is ‘Toyota City Showcase’ but in reality, Mega Web is a giant theme park for car nuts where kids and adults who are kids-at-heart can touch, poke and prod the latest technology as well as learn a little bit about what goes into the making of a modern automobile.
Here for instance, we’ve got the dashboard from an old Crown, showing you how instrument clusters have evolved from gauges to the modern hidden style that manufacturers favour today. There are tons and tons of other little displays that explain basic concepts like torque, transmissions, hybrid systems and so on and so forth.
The Japanese have a well documented love of vending machine. Wander the streets of Tokyo and every few feet, you’ll come across a machine selling drinks, snacks, cigarettes, and umm, sometimes less savoury items. True to form, Mega Web also offers its own vending machines – in this case, product brochures for 200 yen (about Dh8.5). Only problem is, they’re all in Japanese!
It’s not all classroom science projects though – Mega Web is meant to be a hands-on facility. Hence these custom-built pods running a special version of Gran Turismo that allow you to drive Toyota’s classics sports car on famous circuits like Ebisu and Tsukuba.
OK, you’re thinking. So far, so blah. What can’t I do in Mega Web that I can’t do here in the UAE?
This is what you can’t do in any other showroom in the world. This funny-looking structure is a giant parking garage that holds every current car in the Toyota range. Present your (international) licence to any of the attendants, select a car from a giant touch screen and you can then actually drive it inside the facility, right there and then! Giant machinery grinds and moans, the garage swivels around and the car of your choice pops out, for you to drive inside the track that runs the whole length of this huge warehouse. Cool, eh?
‘Why would I fly all the way to Japan to drive a Yaris?’ you grumble. Ah, but there are more Toyotas in the world than you’ve seen, young padawan…
For starters, how about this Toyota 86 RC? A stripped-down variant bereft of niceties like air conditioning or a stereo and fitted with unpainted bumpers and steel wheels, this is the cheapest 86 Toyota sells, intended for tuners who will start extensive modifications right away and don’t want to pay for features they’ll never use.
It may be really, really basic but I have to say, in the flesh it looks pretty damn cool, a rat rod for the new millenium. I want one, and I want one bad! Why won’t you bring it here, Al-Futtaim Motors?
Oh right, that’s why – because it has no air conditioning. Drat. Guess I’ll just have to gut my own car. But perhaps your tastes don’t run to sports cars. Maybe you’re after something more practical, like a hybrid.
Sorted – here’s the Toyota Aqua, also known as the Prius C in other markets. This is the smallest – and more importantly, cheapest- Toyota hybrid on sale, with a 1.5-litre- four cylinder motor mated to the usual electric gubbins and power reaching the wheels through a CVT gearbox. Total output for the two motors is a mere 99bhp and seeing as it has push around 1130kg, I wouldn’t expect performance to be anything other than leisurely. Still, the Aqua only costs AED72,000 and with a claimed economy of 4.4L/100km, I can see it making sense to a lot of people who want something more interesting than a Kia Rio. Did I mention it comes in lot of fruity colours?
Need something with a bit more space than a subcompact? How about the awesomely named Toyota Vellfire! (I added the exclamation mark), a minivan with ‘youth appeal’. Which as far as I can work out, extends to some chunky alloys and lots of shiny chrome. And, considering this is sold with a 2.4-litre Camry engine under the hood, no actual performance. This, the ‘Premium Seat Version’, costs an eye-watering AED247,540. Yikes.
Speaking of seats, here’s a very good idea disguised in a very ordinary looking car. Yes, this may look like your average Toyota Corolla Axio…
…but the passenger seat swivels left to allow easier access for handicapped passengers or people with weak joints. Nifty idea, that doesn’t take up as much room as a traditional wheelchair support. Speaking of wheelchairs…
… the boot has a special crane to lift and store them away. Not bad for a little Corolla!
Looking for something with a little more speed? Check out this ‘G Sports’ Mark X, a rear-wheel drive midsize sedan with some serious grunt under the hood, courtesy of a 318bhp direct-injected 3.5-litre V6. Yep, that’s the same engine you get in the Aurion and hooked up to the same six-speed auto, only with considerably more beef.
The regular Mark X is an attractive automobile, but the G Sports body kit with its muscular front clip, powder black wheels and ground hugging sideskirts take things to a whole new level.
All this loveliness doesn’t come cheap. You can get a 2.5-litre GSports Mark X for AED153,000 but if you want the full fat V6 effect, you’ll need to splash out AED180,000. Still better value than the Vellfire, one suspects.
This actually isn’t a Toyota at all, but a car built by subsidiary Daihatsu. Called the Mira Cocoa, this almost unbearably cute car is a ‘kei’ car with a 650 cc engine. Not one for Sheikh Zayed Road but on the tight narrow streets of Tokyo, I could see it making a whole lot of sense.
Lurking in the back is this gigantic black limousine. Despite the ’60s styling this is no museum relic but in fact a brand new Toyota Century, a strange cocktail that mixes the height of conservative three-box design with the latest technology. Believe it or not, the Century is actually a very sophisticated machine with full air suspension and a massive 5.0-litre V12, not to mention every single toy that Toyota could stuff into the chassis. Not a car for drivers, but to be driven in, the Century is truly a car fit for an emperor.
Get behind the wheel of the Century and it’s like a time warp to the 80s. Boxy dash? Check. Boxy steering wheel borrowed from a 100-series Land Cruiser? Check. Electrically operated doors? Check. More buttons than a button factory? Check. I couldn’t find the switch for the rockets or the machine guns but rest assured, it’s there somewhere…
Want a Century? Best check your overdraft first; prices start at a resolve-withering AED675,000.
Historic Garage
An amazing showroom, a full test drive facility and science experiments that would make Bill Nye The Science Guy jealous – that would be enough for most people. But Mega Web has yet one more secret to reveal, and it’s hidden all the way at the back of the complex, far away from the glitz and glamour of the new cars.
In fact, it’s a bit of a mission to find it. You’ve got to exit the showroom, then head into a shopping area, past a supermarket, past every shop in the area, before turning right at this sign.
This is Historic Garage, a small sampling of the cars from Toyota’s own private collection of significant automobiles.
The vast majority of this collection resides many hundreds of kilometres away in Toyota’s hometown of Nagoya (we’re going there next!) but for those who can’t make the trek, this is a tiny taster of the goodness inside, as well as an opportunity to buy lots and lots of classic themed merchandise that you can’t get anywhere else.
Walk quickly past the shop and head upstairs to where the real classics are kept.
Despite what you might think, it’s not just Toyotas that you’ll find inside Historic Garage, although this exceedingly-rare Toyota Sports 800 race car understandably takes pride of place.
A mint condition Hachi Roku, looking as fresh as the day it rolled out of the factory. This won’t be the last Hachi Roku I see on this trip.
Another ‘kei car’, this time from Mazda. This four-door ‘Carol’ first rolled off the assembly line in 1962 and was an offshort from the R360 coupe.
Under the hood is undoubtedly one of the smallest production four-cylinder engines ever – just 358cc – which produced a mere 18hp. It proved to be a huge hit, selling over 3000 cars a month.
Despite looking very similar to the cute Fiat 500 on the right, Subaru’s 360 was built as a Japanese version of the famous Volkswagen Beetle and had similar instant success. Like the Sports 800, it featured an air cooled two-cylinder engine making just 20bhp. Top speed? A fairly ambitious 105kph.
Proceed past the main concourse and you find this section which is currently featuring a whole host of Japanese cars from the ‘70s and ‘60s, although on a previous visit it held a number of race cars from Porsche 956s to Mazda’s famous Le Mans winning 787B. Today, you’ll find this immaculate ‘Hakosuka’ 1970 C10 Nissan Skyline GT-R coupe.
This was the first Nissan to bear the famous ‘Skyline’ monicker’ and had a 2.0-litre straight-six producing an impressive-for-the-time 160bhp. To put that number into perspective – a Volkswagen GTI produces 200bhp today.
Prefer something European? How about this superb MG Midget, parked right in front of a Mercedes-Benz 190SL? And if you don’t fancy one of those, there’s a Lotus Elan lurking just out of shot, a Honda S800, a DeLorean…the list goes on and on.
We’ve nearly come to the end of our tour of Mega Web, but there are a couple of surprises left. The first is the gift shop, actually hidden behind the walls of the museum and crammed to the rafters with every kind of diecast car, gas pump and other automotive paraphernalia, from TV cars to arm-unfriendly 1:18 scale models. Trust me, you’ll want to pick something up – especially considering that many of the items on sale are exclusive to Japan.
And finally – something very special indeed. On the night our little group visited Mega Web, Toyota brought some of the classics out of the garage to stretch their legs on a tight little circuit behind the facility. Our little group got to choose from a selection of Japanese classics including the very rare 2000GT coupe, a new 86 and the Mark X.
But being an 86 man, there was only one car for me, and it had to be the classic Sports 800, its raspy little two-cylinder boxer engine filling the night air. An absolutely tiny car, the Sports 800 was surprisingly spacious once you managed the contortions necessary to achieve entry. Check out the video of my ride below.
Next stop: the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya!
