The New Toyota Prius

In uncertain times, the multitudes need a hero. In a year when the spot price of light, sweet crude is an hourly news event, the Toyota Prius seems a likely candidate. A new Prius hybrid arrives in 2009 to fight the forces of OPEC and the evil oil empire. If the price of gasoline hits $5 at the pump, buyers are sure to give it a very bigHowdy Doody welcome.

Toyota, a ship so buttoned down it makes the recently departed William F. Buckley Jr. look like Huey Newton, has no plans for radical upheaval. The current Prius is a sellout in all its five-door jelly-bean frumpiness, so the car scheduled to be revealed at the 2009 Detroit auto show will be tweaked mainly to answer minor customer beefs with the current jelly bean. It will be slightly larger, a bit more spacious inside, and trimmed with more luxury options. The engine will grow and become a tad snappier in its sprint while returning even better fuel economy. A plug-in model should arrive in 2010.

Toyota Prius Custom Plus Concepts - 2010 Tokyo

If you couldn't find a modified Prius to your likings at the grounds of this year's edition of the Tokyo Auto Salon in Japan, chances are that you never will. We lost count of how many customized Prius' made their way to the Makuhari Messe exhibition center, but Toyota alone displayed three different concept versions of its popular hybrid model.

Making its debut alongside the Prius G Sports and TOM's Prius studies was the Prius Custom Plus Concept (CCP) prepared by Toyota's in-house customizing and accessories division.

The prototype model looks thoroughly worked over thanks to the wide body kit that further accentuates the Prius hybrid's wedgy shape.

Together with the new nose job that boasts massive Lamborghini-styled air-vents, the Prius CPC gets custom-made fenders, beefy side skirts, new rear bumper with an integrated diffuser and side spoilers, and a large rear wing made out of carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber is also the material of choice for the new hood, roof, the cameras on the doors that replace the exterior mirrors and the rear panel on the trunk door.

The uniquely styled 18-inch alloy wheels that are shod on 215/40 R18 Goodyear tires sum up the exterior modifications.

The Fast and Furious / Racing theme is continued inside with the addition of gauges on top of the dashboard and just above the new steering wheel that's wrapped in Alcantara.

The same material is also used to trim the new Recaro bucket seats and most parts of the cabin.

Despite the go-fast looks, the only performance mods on the Prius CCP concerns the high-performance brake system and the sports suspension that lowers the car's ride height by 10mm up front and 15mm at the rear.