TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: The no-shows

Making a strong comeback after a decade in Shanghai’s shadow, the 2015 Tokyo motor show was a bonanza for sports car fans.

The undisputed highlight was Mazda's stunning rotary-powered Mazda RX VISION, but other sleek new coupes to wow the crowd included Toyota's pint-size S-FR concept and the surprisingly good-looking Yamaha SPORTS RIDE CONCEPT.

And after appearing in different forms at just about every motor show on the planet for the past three years, the long overdue production-ready Honda NSX supercar finally landed in Tokyo.

There were other stars, of course, including the extravagant fuel-cell powered Lexus LF-FC limousine concept, the autonomous Nissan IDS electric concept, the Subaru Viziv Future Concept and Mitsubishi's new ASX-previewing eX Concept.

But what about the cars that didn’t make it to Tokyo? Yes, indeed, there were half a dozen high-profile concepts that were widely expected to make their world debuts in Tokyo, but for whatever reason didn't make it.

Take Honda's S2000 successor, which missed a Tokyo berth for two reasons; several important aspects about the car’s design are not finalised and Honda PR types did not want to take the spotlight away from the company's long-awaited NSX flagship.

The big news with the mini-NSX (rendered here in orange) will be its mid-mounted -- not front-mounted, as in the S2000 – powertrain. To save costs, Honda will employ the Civic Type-R’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine to power the rear wheels with about 230kW.

As leaked patent documents revealed earlier this year, Honda is in the advanced development stage of this coupe, which should be launched by 2018 with a price tag upwards of $70,000.

Another Honda initially considered for a Tokyo world debut but then discounted because it would detract from the NSX was the NSX Type-R, which will form the basis of a GT3-spec racer (also rendered here in white) to take on the likes of Nissan and Mercedes-Benz in global sports car motorsport within the next two years.

Meantime, Lexus unveiled another surprise in Tokyo with the fuel cell-powered LF-FC concept, but what we did not see was the highly-anticipated LC coupe it forms the basis of – a belated replacement for the SC 430.

Lexus' all-new flagship coupe (rendered here in blue) was kept under wraps not only to let the LF-FC hog the limelight, but so it can make its world debut at the Detroit show in January.

Powered by the RC F and GS F’s 5.0-litre V8, the big coupe will also come with a V6 turbo option and the world’s first 10-speed automatic gearbox courtesy of Aisin.

We're also told that – just as Mazda had planned to show an MPS concept at Frankfurt in September before choosing to unveil the all-new 'CX-4' crossover instead – the upcoming MX-5 hard-top was gazumped by the RX Vision at Tokyo.

The new MX-5 roadster-coupe's retractable roof will now have to wait until next year for its unveiling, given Mazda's Los Angeles show fanfare will be reserved for the second-generation CX-9 next month.

Interestingly, while Mitsubishi staged the world debut of the eX Concept, which previews the next ASX due in 2018, it didn't show the XR PHEV II concept from Geneva, which points to an all-new sub-Outlander premium SUV that will beat the next ASX to market by 2017.

Images: Best Car