There are so many hidden features and techie bits in the new Toyota FT-4X Concept that the company should release an augmented-reality app to help you find them all. Toyota refers to the millennial crowd that this Creamsicle so deliberately targets as “casualcore” off-roaders. Regardless of whatever that is, the car’s features are clever and impressive: a rear hatch that can both flip upward as one piece or open horizontally like a pair of doors; tie-down roof hoops; external power outlets; a built-in GoPro in the driver-side mirror casing; removable interior lighting that doubles as flashlights; door handles that double as water bottles; a North Face sleeping bag embedded in the center console; and enough USB ports to satisfy the most hardcore millennial’s device-charging fantasies.
The design is bold and toy-like, but the car appears to be a legit off-roader, with a generous approach and departure angles, and four-wheel-drive with low range. The FT-4X is probably meant as a spiritual successor to the FJ Cruiser, an also-quirky but fully capable off-roader. If Toyota shelves the inane millennial pandering, reels in the design a bit and stays serious about its off-road ability, this could be one, too.
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