The CR-X lives on to tell another tale, or at least sort of. The spiritual successor to Honda's much missed small coupe, the gasoline-electric hybrid CR-Z, will be unveiled in near production form at next month's Tokyo Motor Show. Despite the fact that CR-Z carries a concept moniker, it's obvious that only a few changes will be made to the production model that is scheduled to be launched in Japan in February 2010 and the rest of the world sometime after.

At a first glance, the so-called "CR-Z Concept 2009" doesn't appear to be that different from the original CR-Z concept car that was displayed at the 2007 Tokyo show.

However, as you can see for yourselves in the photos that we've attached below, a closer look reveals that Honda's designers thoroughly reworked the sport coupe's front and rear ends as well as the profile.

Not surprisingly, the pre-production CR-Z's interior has nothing in common with the 2007 concept model, but sans the sportier trim, the dashboard's styling does bring to mind the Insight...

As of yet, there's nothing official on the CR-Z's hybrid powertrain, but recent reports suggest that Honda will ditch the Insight's 1.3-liter petrol engine for a more powerful 1.5-liter unit combined with a more potent electric motor.

Via carscoop

HONDA CR-Z CONCEPT 2009

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HONDA CR-Z CONCEPT 2007