First of all, I thought I had already been to the launch party. Wrong. I thought I had driven the thing. Wrong. I learned today this was a pre-announcement-pre-party, and the cars I had seen were "production prototypes." I see. Then, this splendiferous event with a rock band, canapés and apple juice must surely be the launch festa, I thought. (The dear reader knows by now that the average Toyota launch event in Japan entails a card table, two speakers, PowerPoint and a bottle of water.) Wrong again. It's kind of a pre-announcement. The car itself will come in we'll talk about that when we talk timing.

However, I was told that today, that now we have real specs and prices, and the cars (which looked deceptively like the production prototypes) are the ones that will be sold. In Japan. As for America we'll get to that. Here are the vital stats of the hachi-roku JDM spec:

Trim levels: RC, G, GT, GT "Limited."
Weight: From 1,180kg (2,601 lbs) for the RC version to 1,250kg (2,756 lbs)
Engine: DOHC horizontally opposed 4-cylinder direct injection
Output: 147kW (200hp) / 7,000 rpm
Torque: 205nm / 6,400 6,600 rpm
Wheelbase: 2,570mm

And to answer a burning and often asked question: Yes, a tape deck, even a CD radio with USB are available. As options.

More: Hachi-Roku Thursday: Specs And Yen on TheTruthAboutCars.com