Sometimes a car you’ve never heard of is thrown up in the media as rumours, and sometimes it’s thrown up at a motorshow. The Toyota iQ is the latter, a strange looking small car that could be a (dimension-wise) smaller version of the Prius, though this is expected to run on a small gas or diesel motor below 1.5L.

Toyota iQ

The Toyota iQ. Click to enlarge.

Apart from looking somewhat like a rabbit,� the Echo, the iQ sports an interesting 3+1 configuration, where the standard 2 seater setup is transformed into 3 by a third seat is flipped up in the back. The car is expected to have a front mounted engine, with power delivered through the front wheels.

The iQ is slated to go on sale in Europe in 2009, with no word on other markets.

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