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Organizers of the 39th Tokyo Motor Show are promising 79 world premieres at the show.

The show's media days are wrapping up today, while the show opens to the public on Saturday and runs for 17 days, making it the longest of all the major international auto shows.

Here's a brief roundup of some of the machines likely to create the most buzz at this year's show.

Audi: The German luxury car brand will introduce the Shooting Brake concept, which is a low-slung, two-door hatchback that uses the firm's Quattro all-wheel drive and an adaptive electro-magnetic adjustable damping system. The car is powered by a 3.2-litre, 250-hp, six-cylinder engine, and offers 0-100 km/h times of 6.0 seconds.

Chrysler: The Akino concept looks like it could be a four-door version of the next Smart car, but this one-box Chrysler design was penned at DC's California design studio by Akino Tsuchiya, who gave the car not only its distinctive looks inside and out, but also her name.

Ferrari: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of famed Ferrari designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's involvement in design, the company is releasing a GG50 concept car that will be unveiled at Bridgestone's booth.

Ford: The big news here will be the Equator concept, which mechanically is very similar to the current Escape, and may in fact preview what's next for the popular sport-ute. Ford will also show the Focus Vignale, a coupe version of the Focus with a retractable hardtop.

Mazda: Picture a futuristic Mazda RX-8 with power-sliding, minivan-like doors, and you'll get the general idea behind the Senku concept from Mazda. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of its slick design is the direct-injection, rotary-powered hybrid engine, which promises both big power and good fuel economy.

Honda: With the new Civic officially reaching Canadian dealerships this month, the firm will show future potentials of its other bread-and-butter sedan in North America, the Accord, in the form of the Sports 4 concept, which uses the performance-tuned all-wheel drive system from the Acura RL.

For dog lovers, Honda will show its W.O.W concept, for Wonderful, Open-hearted Wagon, which offers two Fido-friendly pet passenger compartments. Plus Honda will also show its FCX fuel-cell concept, a super-sleek sedan that places the fuel cell in between the car's four seats, not to be confused with the hydrogen-powered two-door hatchback fuel cell of the same name that is sold in limited numbers in California.

Mini: BMW's small-car division will show a longer Mini that reincarnates the Mini Traveller, called simply the Mini Concept Tokyo. The car will demonstrate more creativity than the name, with two longer doors and no B-pillar, with the rear hatch split into two opening "doors" to allow access to the larger interior.

Mitsubishi: The Concept-X will be the headliner for Mitsubishi, which foreshadows the upcoming Lancer in general, and in particular the high-performance Evolution X version that's expected to, finally, make it into Canada at some point in 2008. Mitsubishi, however, says there's a chance that this design may take on a totally different name, although not many industry watchers are expecting the company to so easily drop the well-known Evo moniker.

Nissan: The Nissan/Renault group will present by far one of the most eagerly anticipated introductions of the show, the GT-R sports car, which the company says "gives clear design direction for the next-generation GT-R," slated to be launched in 2007.

This will be a spiritual successor to the revered Skyline in Japan, Infiniti G35 sedan and coupe in North America, but with increased performance, such that it may very well become the king of Japanese sports cars. The production version of the GT-R is slated to be sold around the world, satiating car enthusiasts outside of Japan that have been teased by Skyline appearances in the Fast and Furious movies as well as Gran Turismo video games.

Unlike the Skyline, the GT-R will be designed as a sports car, not a coupe based off a sedan like the G35 Coupe. Although Nissan head Carlos Ghosn has confirmed the GT-R will be sold globally, the question is whether the Corvette-fighter will make it to North America as an Infiniti or Nissan -- or maybe even both.

Nissan will also showcase the Pivo, a city-friendly electric-car concept where the driver sits in a glass bubble that can be rotated 360 degrees to help with parking, the Foria 2+2 coupe, which has the suicide doors and an overall look that says Mazda RX-8, and the Amenio, a six-passenger people mover that pushes tranquillity in the future minivan.

Subaru: The big news for Subaru is the B5-TPH concept, but unlike most show cars, what's most unique about this three-door hatchback is what's under the hood: the world's first boxer hybrid engine.

And that's not the end of the technical wizardry. The 2.0-litre Miller-cycle engine (as seen in the Mazda Millenia) will be turbocharged, connect to Subaru's all-wheel-drive system, and promises a new capability to hybrids: highway cruising on electric power.

Toyota: Japan's largest car maker, and second largest in the world, will also show off its technological prowess in Tokyo. The Fine-X will be a hybrid fuel-cell vehicle that runs on both hydrogen and electricity, with the goal of eliminating all emissions save water.

It will also show a new-generation version of its Estima Hybrid concept minivan, which may very well foreshadow a hybrid version of the Sienna. The Sienna shares a platform with the Camry and Highlander, both of which have or will receive a gas/electric hybrid power train in the next year or two.

On the wacky side, Toyota will also show its i-swing "wearable" single-person vehicle. It can be used in a stand-up mode on two-wheels, or the driver can get on three wheels to travel at higher speeds.

The iPod on wheels has an LED panel that can be customized to display different images or colours, while artificial intelligence sensors allow the i-swing to "learn" about its driver by storing different preferences.

globeauto@globeandmail.ca