Toyota’s Calty Design Research Studio Reveals Never-Before-Seen Concepts From The Past

Moving from the marvelous to the downright bizarre, we have this curious-looking city car. Known as the NYC Concept, this internal project was presumably designed for crowded spaces like New York City.

The vertical proportions, which provide the NYC Concept with its, ahem, eccentric looks, ensure it doesn’t take up much space when navigating bustling metropoles in the Total Recall universe. Inside, the vehicle was equipped with fence seating for the front passengers. Essentially, this semi-seated/standing position props occupants up like leaning against a fence or wall.

We can’t imagine this being particularly comfortable, but Toyota says this allowed them to be at eye level with pedestrians, improving safety. There is even a rear bench that can be folded down for increased cargo space. It’s interesting, but we can’t say we’re sad this didn’t see the light of day; the insect-like styling makes a Volkswagen Beetle look conventional.