Toyota TAC3

A small four wheel drive, three seat concept from Toyota from 1983. It even came with a trailer that would hold an additional four wheels for some serious off-roading!!!!

Seat Raider / Anibal Podadera

With Seat’s first fully independently designed and built car from Fiat, the Ibiza in the bag and selling well Spanish Francisco Podadera proposed a coupe version to take in the Toyota MR2 and Fiat X1/9. Not only did he propose it he also built prototype, which apart from having its rear roof and seats removed also had a severe nose job that added those much needed 80’s pop up lights and 6”. As you can see the body was also seriously re-worked and replaced with fiberglass.

Toyota EX-2 Concept

1969 was a good year for Toyota and its concept building department, not only did they showcase the EX-1 which lead to the design cues of the original Celica but they also showed this, the EX-2.

Toyota EX-1

Toyota debuted this car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1969 as the ultimate Grand Tourer. Designed to go fast over long distances it was fitted with a roof mounted spoiler which was electronically controlled to ensure stability at high speeds by lifting out of the roof.

Random Picture

A few months ago now I posted up the “Pizza Delivery Van” Metro test mule for the MGF, in that I mentioned the other mule which was a modified MR2 with the K series engine mid mounted, well here’s the only picture I could find of it-

Toyota RV-2

In the world of car design the term “surprise and delight” is now key to selling to the public. Today this means taking something mundane and making it a talking point or simply tactile. In modern cars this may be as simple as the retractable cup holders that come out of the dash and pirouette down. But compared to this concept from the 70’s it’s clearly lacking. Why just have a small feature when you can have the whole rear of the sleek shooting brake GT open up into a camper!!!!

Toyota Avalon

In the car industry “surprise and delight” is key, just think of the cup holder in the Audi A3 that with the slightest touch effortlessly deploys from the dash. The Avalon’s “surprise and delight” is its roof which totally folds back. Totally impractical, just think about if it rained, but it give the rest of the car that low sleek look, as well as adding that 4 door convertable option. Built as a concept in 1991, it looks like it was just “wow” styling exercise, and it does do its job very well.

Supercharged MR2

I must admit I have a soft spot for the Mk 1 Toyota MR2 after owning one. But when I was looking for one (some 10 years ago) I noticed a number of adverts for a supercharged version, I had always assumed that these were after market modifications so steered clear, instead buying the 124bhp naturally aspirated version sold in the UK (the blue one below). I then discovered to my dismay, that these were factory produced!!!!! And what’s worse they were not much more that the one I had bought. Produced in the late production run of the Mk1 from 1987-89, the supercharged unit produced 145bhp and went to 60 in 6.7s, not bad for the late 80’s, especially from a 1.6ltr engine. The only difference (apart from the badges) was 2 bumps on the engine cover and larger grills to accommodate the intercooler mounted on top of the engine.

I have to agree with the press at the time that the handling of the MR2 was fantastic, a real driver’s car, with none of the usual “modern” driver aids such as ABS, traction control or power steering but mid engined, rear wheel drive and light. It was like Toyota decided to build a back to basics car to compete with the MX5 with a bit of a super car twist, and did a damn fine job. The supercharged version being the icing on the cake.





My old MR2-



For more information-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MR2

Toyota Sera

In the early 1990’s Toyota produced the Sera for its domestic market of Japan. On the face of it it’s a run of the mill small 4 seater for commuting. But this cars unique selling point was its doors, not you conventional hinged ones here, oh no, butterfly one’s no less. That has to increase its coolness over the competition and deserves mention here for a manufacturer willing to try something different on a production model . This resulted in over 15000 being produced and many exported around the world, despite it only having a 1500cc engine and handling that didn’t sit with its sporting image.







Japan advert-



For more information-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Sera

http://www.omicron.uk.com/sera/index.html