Our first reaction to seeing the Toyota Camatte (which literally translates to  “Take care of me”) concept for kids was: wait, a car for kids (the closest we ever came to the idea was hitching a ride on the neighbor’s Power Wheels way back when)?

A fancy mix of a Mini Cooper and a Volkswagen Kübelwagen, Toyota’s aim with this retro-looking concept (besides winning over the entire youth market) was to facilitate the communication between parents and their children while driving. Meaning: the car isn’t actually street legal, but can be used in a go-kart type of setting and kids younger than the legal driving age would be able to drive it.

The Camatte is 106.3 inches long and 51.2 inches wide and can reach speeds up to 25mph. It runs on an electric motor with a lead-acid battery and its seating arrangement isn’t your typical vehicle setup, arranged in an atypical triangle fashion derived from a Japanese word “kamau,” which means “caring for others.” In the Camatte’s case this seating arrangement works so a parent can easily take control if things start to well, you know how kids can be.

There aren’t any for sure plans for commercializing the Camatte, but like many children’s “toys,” the car would only be used under adult supervision (given that you have the willingness to trust a kid to operate this sizable set of wheels).

(photo via The Asahi Shimbum)