1991 Toyota AXV-III

TOYOTA AXV-III, an advanced concept vehicle that offers a peek at environmental, safety and convenience systems of future automobiles, features such items as side-door air bags, global positioning system (GPS) navigation and multi-function color instrument panel displays.

Toyota and Mitsubishi also showed concept cars jammed with electronics that take over much of the driving process. Toyota’s AXV-III, for example, is laden with sensors and cameras that would guide the car’s movements in traffic. A device much like the sensors used on some small video cameras sounds an alarm if the car drifts out of its lane.

Laser beams on the Toyota prototype sweep right and left when the car is moving at high speeds, measuring the distance to other cars and slowing the car if it is getting too close. Cameras and sensors on the side-view mirrors guide a computer that can park the car in a garage.