Japan has produced a $39,000 motorcycle - the world's most expensive - and a car that fits into a suitcase. One really goes; the other is strictly for show.
Honda Motor Co. said it will begin selling its new one-seat 747cc motorcycle in Japan on May 25. The vehicle's price, Honda said, is based on expensive materials such as titanium and magnesium that make it lightweight. The company said it expects to sell 300 of the cycles annually.Mazda, meanwhile, said its 55-pound, three-wheel car was the 1990 winner in the company's annual creative contest among its 29,800 employees.
Mazda official Yukio Kamekawa said that when taken out of the suitcase and assembled in a few seconds, the car can drive about 12 miles on the gas in its half-gallon tank. It is not allowed on roads, but is touring auto shows - recently those in Germany and Australia and later this month in New York.
Kamekawa said the car cost less than $750 to build and has a 33cc engine which is started with a tug on a rope, like a lawn mower engine.