TOYOTA F3R

The automotive world continues to look for a hip minivan. Toyota's latest try is the F3R, or Freedom 3-Row Concept. Hybrid powered - of course, it's a Toyota, and the company can do anything with a hybrid powertrain. The F3R has six side doors. The front two are conventional, and the rear four are pillar-free suicide doors with a reinforcement ring, like the Honda Element. They open to reveal a "lounge interior," with three conventional rows of seats that can be arranged into a kind of big oval couch, like those family room "pits" popular in the '90s. The driver's seat reclines and swivels, but the system is designed so that you can't drive the minivan when the seats are configured like this. Even if the driver's seat is in place, the second row can't be reclined while driving because it makes seatbelt use tough. There are two track-mounted video screens and a three-tier instrument panel, the upper strip with a mode for driving and a mode for the lounge. The main floor is covered in a kind of mid-century style recyclable rubber (the front seat area uses recyclable bamboo and the textured seats, set up "stadium style" in their driving configuration, are of a nice supple non-leather material. Toyota describes the styling as a wedged-shaped profile with a high beltline.