TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: Yamaha SPORTS RIDE CONCEPT

Yamaha presented its second concept car in two years at today's Tokyo motor show opening, and this time it's a sexy compact coupe that weighs just 750kg and spans less than four metres long.

Attracting crowds metres thick for the rest of the day, the SPORTS RIDE CONCEPT follows the 2013 MOTIVE.e concept and employs the same Gordon Murray-developed, carbon tub-based iStream manufacturing system as the small city-hatch.

There's no word on whether the motorcycle maker's latest four-wheeled show car will reach production and details remain scrace, Yamaha confirming only a 3900mm length, 1720mm width and super-low 1170mm height, making it about the same size as Mazda's MX-5.

Of course it's much lighter than the feather-weight new MX-5, however, thanks to carbon-fibre body work instead of the MOTIVE's fibreglass, meaning it won't need much power to be fun.

Powertrain details have not been revealed, but there's speculation Yamaha's 1.0-litre three-cylinder bike engine could be employed to produce anywhere between 50 and 60kW.

Inside the low-slung two-seater is a minimalist, driver-focussed cockpit featuring a pair of deeply sculpted sports bucket seats, triple-gauge motorcycle-style instruments, chunky aluminium highlights and door straps instead of handles.

Yamaha describes the SPORTS RIDE CONCEPT purely as a design exercise that delivers the “involved and active feeling of riding a motorcycle, but says that if it ever develops a production sports car this is what it will look like.