(first posted 7/14/2011) Every “overnight success” has a much larger back story than most people care to know. It’s become pop history that Toyota’s Lexus division took the country by storm immediately after its 1989 introduction. Opportunity, meet preparation. But there was an historical antecedent to the new luxury champion that is fading from our collective memories, and that is today’s CC . Lest we forget, let’s look back at a model that was definitely more than the sum of its parts, the 1985 Toyota Cressida.
Ask just about any Baby Boomer, X’er or Millennial what car epitomizes mechanical excellence and implied social status and a large majority will quickly answer “Lexus”. Now heading into its 23rd year, Toyota’s buy-up division has managed to stake out the high rent district that was once occupied by Cadillac, Mercedes, and in sportier nick, BMW. Aspirational cars, the lot of them.
Detroit, Stuttgart and Munich politely smiled when Toyota announced plans for a new, upmarket marque in 1988 at several tony auto shows and press previews, but they clearly were not worried. The Big Three (and Fatherland Two) had money, power and friends in the right places (inside the beltway on planet Washington). Besides, in the mid 80’s Detroit, at least, was still trapped in the Japanese=Cheap Crackerboxes mindset that would blind them to the reality that the ground was shifting directly under their feet. The favorable demographic tsunami that was coming in (affluent postwar baby boomers in their peak earning years) could either lift all automotive boats or drown the losers in a sea of red ink and erode the slipping, but still strong, brand loyalty beyond repair.
For Toyota, the calculus was the old crisis/opportunity conundrum: keep building entry level, low margin starter cars and earn a meager return (and soon see competitors from lower wage nations tear off their piece of the sales pie) or go upmarket and build a more expensive car for about the same cost as the price leader. The famed “Toyota System” of production ensured that efficiency would be world class and quality would be second to none. The real challenge would be adapting the final product to Americans tastes and desires enough to justify a premium car price while spreading the fixed costs over mid priced, bread and butter models.
Toyota had gotten a hint that this nascent market existed and could be expanded after it introduced the clean sheet 1981 Cressida. The Cressida had been the company’s flagship model in the U.S. since 1976, and in its first iteration, did solid business, but never threatened any luxo-barge maker with extinction. Obsolescent styling, an old fashioned 2.6 straight six and a high price made the very first Cressida an also ran in the market.
The new for ’81 Cressida however, came as a shock and surprise to the U.S. car market. Quietness, a smooth new fuelie 2.8 and stunning quality showed that A) Toyota could build a luxury car that was a game changer, and B) Detroit’s idea of wallowing, pillow sprung, unreliable gas guzzlers was wildly out of step with the times. It was also about this time that GM dropped its execrable 350 Diesel into a LOT of premium price Buicks and Cadillacs. Those buyers were “persuadable”, to say the least, after wrestling with the cars alarmingly bad quality and GM’s arrogant response.
By this time (1984) Lexus was more than a concept, but less than a car. The project had been greenlighted by top Toyo management, but a lot of hard work lay ahead before a salable product would hit the streets. Toyota was probing for clues to what the public really wanted in a premium car. Sport suspension or boulevard ride? Front wheel or rear wheel drive? The answers could make or break a billion dollar model. Manual transmission option? BMW had one, even Mercedes installed a few stir –your-own shifters in its sport 190’s. Questions like these needed a test mule to answer and Toyota found that they had one already in production and on the market.
Almost forgotten today, the 1985 Cressida was a sensation in its debut year. Sporting a striking new body and lots of high priced, high margin options like a CD player, electronic shock absorber adjustment and transmission power selection, the angular body fairly screamed sport/luxury. While most other manufacturers were rounding off the corners and melting the edges away, the Cressida (and Maxima) were spare, angular, no nonsense designs with flat planes of sheetmetal, with just enough brightwork and excellent four corner visibility.
There was a manual transmission option, but apparently few buyers opted for this setup. A premium price tag and competition from a striking new Nissan Maxima that also seemed to have been milled out of the same billet of metal didn’t make things any easier for product planners at Toyota City. No matter. The third generation Cressida’s sales jumped by 25%. Toyota was on to something big.
‘The 85-88 generation in many ways marked the high water mark for Toyota’s flagship in the U.S. Its successor model was smooth and refined, but beware of the engine that succeeded the 5M GE. The new 3.0 L 7M GE installed in the ’89 has an appetite for 25 dollar head gaskets…which cost about $1200 labor to install. The same engine was installed in the Supra, and owners report that that model also suffered from the malady. It’s a designed-in flaw.
Lexus wasn’t quite ready for its debut and its success was by no means a sure thing, so Toyota released the fourth generation Cressida for the 1988 model year. Sales held steady in the year before the car was made redundant by the debut of the LS 400 and ES 250, then sank like a stone. By the end (in 1992), less than 4000 Cressidas were retailed in the U.S. The kind of buyer that looked at the Cressida was shopping in the dealership next door.
This ’86 is still an everyday driver that we spotted in Rossville, Georgia. The owner reports that it is reliable as sunrise and only needs a regular oil change and basic maintenance to keep its silky 2.8 straight six purring.
Well, after reading Curbside Classics since its inception, I finally decided to register today. So here goes with my first comment! A little-known aspect of this Cressida (or Mark II as it was in Japan) is that the tail-lights are interchangeable. By flipping them upside-down, they fit on the opposite side of the car. Maybe there are different regulations in different countries regarding heights of tail-lights or indicators from the ground? All the Cressidas sold new here in New Zealand have the same tail-lights as the car above, but upside down – as in the photo I’ve attached. Yet the second-hand Japanese imported Mark II versions also available here have the lights the same way up as the car above. I noticed years ago as a child and have carried this useless information with me for years, but can now tell the world! I’m not a Toyota fan, but these Cressidas have always appealed immensely. Great write-up!
Thank you so much for that picture. Welcome to the family, my friend.
I used to have a 74 Toyota Corona MK2 one of Toyotas early attempts at going up market and it was a really good car it ran a 4M 6 and auto went hard and didnt give trouble, Toyota did the cheap stuff well and built good cars they did the expensive stuff even better its all well designed and screwed together properly and painted properly easy to see why they lasted.
I only ever saw one of these in the “wild” (but as a testament to their quality you can find them on auto trader for sale.) My sophmore year of college one of our communications professors had one that was her daily driver. Her car was a ’85-’88 generation and was pale blue with a blue interior. Seeing the car in the late 1990s (and still never having seen a Lexus in my blue collar Midwestern-region) the car struck me as the “Most American” Toyota that I had ever seen. The upright grille and seat coverings made me think Buick – Mercury – Oldsmobile. I would argue that the Cressida never left us and simply became the Avalon.
I never understood the “luxury” Toyota concept; but Toyota, since it got its act together in the 1970s, offered a lot of what was traditionally the Cadillac and Lincoln forte: quality of engineering and assembly; superior customer service; high resale value. It shouldn’t have been surprising that the marketing samurai (is “samurai” singular or plural?) over in Toyota City recognized this and moved to start an up-market brand.
Shouldn’t have been; but so often the Japanese organizations have had a deaf ear to the nuances of the American market, it is in fact remarkable.
The whole thing really is astounding. The Japanese learned what Detroit managed to forget, even as they were rolling in the cash on their techniques. It’s astounding; but it’s fitting; and Toyota earned their place.
Their place, and their profits. I’d never buy a Lexus, for the same reason I’d never buy a tux or a smoking jacket; I’d be laughably out-of-place. A comic poseur. But my daily driver is in fact a Toyota; and while it’s no sports car (or enthusiast’s car of any type) it’s entirely suitable and a great value.
My brother drove one of these briefly- I think it was an 85 and it was in 1989 or so, and it was suprisingly luxurious and individualistic(my own tastes are toward Landyachts), we were not a Japanese car family so it was a very strange experience going from my Dad’s 74 Mercury Cougar XR-7, and my Mom’s 84 Sedan DeVille to this really fancy Toyota. My best friend’s dad had an equivalent Maxima(I was broken hearted when another family friend traded their Chrysler 5th Avenue in for a Maxima “4 Door Sports Car”), and it also was nearly interchangable. They had a fascinating high tech design aesthetic- American luxury was very baroque at the time yet they werent all black perforated leather like the german cars. One thing I dont like about japanese cars of the 1980’s and 1990’s was the feeling like I was sitting on the floor instead of in a seat- but I give them credit for an amazing use of space and good visibility. I always thought the Cressida morphed into the Avalon- I didnt realise it offshot into the Lexus.
In Japan, the Lexus name has never been used. The LS430 is still called the Toyota Celsior, for example. The Japanese luxury brands make first rate used car buys; they have impeccable build quality and have very few mechanical issues.
Actually, Lexus opened up in Japan in 2005:
http://lexus.jp/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/business/worldbusiness/30iht-lexus.html
I always saw it as a bit of a chicken $hit move on Toyota’s part.-I mean there were able to do without the Lexus brand in the JDM for so long-Japanese people are smart enough to know what a good product is regardless of the nameplate, I think. Seems cynically avericious to me.
Don’t forget the most prestigious car in Japan, the Century, is still badged as a Toyota.
Bought a 1984 Cressida Wagon for my wife sometime in 1988. It was not a pampered creampuff but was still in pretty nice condition for a northeast Ohio vehicle. We were both quite fond of the car as it provided plenty of room, reasonable comfort, and outstanding performance in all respects. We had owned several Corollas previously so the Cressida difference was quite apparent to us. We had the car about 4 years until after the automatic transmission failed and was rebuilt. Valentine’s day 1992 I traded it for an 89 Lincoln Continental that certainly was a step up in comfort but unfortunately a giant step backward in reliability. We kept the Lincoln a short 18 months and then bought a new 93 Nissan Maxima that lasted 10 years and 250,000 miles with only routine maintenance. The Maxima still ran like new at 250,000 miles. I agree with Scott that the Japanese luxury cars of that era did not really have very comfortable seating and I too felt like I was kind of sitting on the floor. I also felt that the Cressida became the Avalon.
@chinookfan: The whole sitting on the floor sensation was one of the things I liked least about many of the Japanese makes, especially Honda back then. I always felt like I was wearing a suit about three sizes too small for me.
A former girlfriend had a fairly new Honda Accord back then, and the visibility was very good. But having driven Fiat 128’s and VW Rabbits, I’d known you didn’t need to sit with your legs splayed out underneath the dashboard to see out of the car well. I thought that maybe all of those cars were made for shorter people (I’m 6’1″) and I had too long of an inseam.
If so, the trend continued into the 90’s, when I was selling FourRunners at a Toyota dealership, they were my least favorite car to demo behind the Tercels. I always felt like I was sitting on the floor with my legs way out in those FourRunners. I just didn’t fit into the Tercels (or Paseos), period.
It’s funny, but that was one of the things I loved about my ’88 Civic, the car that felt like a go-kart. Of course, I was 22, and only 5′ 8″…
The Avalon was a sales disaster when released down under noone wanted a fat Camry at a grossly inflated price its still on sale but never seen in the wild.
Well, the Avalon was and is built and designed for US tastes and market conditions, so it’s not surprising it didn’t catch on in Kiwi and Oz.
I think I’ve only seen two Avalons that weren’t taxis.
it’s funny you mentioned taxis. i’ve noticed a couple of avalons recently being chauffeur driven here in manhattan. i think now that the lincoln town car has morphed into a ford edge like thing, the avalon has become an alternative. a lot of rich people here don’t want to draw attention to themselves and the avalon is a really nice discreet vehicle to be driven around in.
I drive by Goldman Sachs HQ every evening, and there’s a line of them – and Camrys and Highlanders – waiting out front for pickups. Discretion + lack of Town Cars.
I drove an ’84 once, around 2004. It belonged to a high school friend and I borrowed it for a stretch while my own car was, uh, incapacitated. Total cream puff, despite having been thoroughly flogged by said owner. It was burning oil and needed a headgasket or something, so it was about to get donated to charity. But that car was so solid, so comfortable and so surprisingly quick (for a brown 20 year old Toyota), I nearly offered to buy it off him when I returned it.
The second-gen car really was excellent, especially the ’83-’84, which upgraded to the DOHC 5M-GE, IRS and vented rear discs. And the interior, the ride and the build quality absolutely shamed Detroit’s luxury cars and it wouldn’t have been out of the question to cross-shop this with, say, a 528e.
And the 3rd-gen ’85-’88 was even better, a Lexus in everything but name. And that was the thing-the name. Remember that in the ’80s, particularly in more conservative parts of the country, driving a Toyota was rather cosmopolitan. In the ’70s, it was downright brash. But Toyota wasn’t Mercedes, or Audi, or even Cadillac, so it needed a new image for these top-notch cars to really make an impact.
The ’88 Cressida was 5-series to the ’89 LS400’s 7-series. Two sizes/prices, same attention to detail. And it was better than the original ES250, which was just a rebadged JDM Camry hardtop. But the Lexus was a sensation while the last Cressida tanked. Buyers are shallow like that. Frankly, I think the true successor to the Cressida was not the Avalon, but the Lexus GS: Rear drive, 2JZ straight-six shared with the Supra, it even debuted the year after the Cressida was dropped.
I always thought it was interesting that the Cressida remained a Toyota after Lexus debuted. It would have made a better entry-level car than the Camry-based ES250. It took Lexus a while to sort out that they needed a mid-level model (resulting in the first GS300), and longer still for it to catch on.
My wife-to-be at the time got handed down her Grandfather’s ’86 Cressida in the mid 90’s. We had it for a couple of years and I still wish we had kept it instead of selling it and replacing with with a Mk3 GTI (total crapbox). In my opinion it was a great design, extremely comfortable, wonderful freeway cruiser and great around town as well. Hers was blue with blue interior, although my favorites are the years with the quilted interior look (’87-88??)
These (’85-’88) are getting popular in the Japanese Retro scene, when I was at the Japanese Classic Car Show in Orange County a couple of years ago there were about half a dozen including a couple of the wagons. Apparently it is relatively easy to convert one to stick-shift and most of them had been. They still look great to my eyes, and have a nice squat to their rear ends under acceleration.
By the way, that is an event not to be missed, it is unbelievable how nice some of these old Japanese cars look these days. Very cool to see mid-70’s Civics etc. in showroom condition. It’s not just riced out crap, plenty of cars are completely stock and/or restored to new or better than new condition.
Never mind the sedan, where oh where is that wagon? The Cressida wagon is the closest thing to a full size wagon to come out of Japan — in fact, think of it as having the luxury of a late 80’s Buick Electra wagon with mechanicals equal or better than the best German and Swedish wagons of the time. And you gotta love the dual tailgate wipers. But just try to find one today. I just ran a Jaxed Mash search and found all of two for sale — one in Hawaii, and another near Seattle that sounds like it has been abused.
I must admit, though, to having an attraction to the Japanese-Chrysler style of the 1978-80 Cressidas, like this one: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2482636973.html
The family had an 86 wagon from around 1990-1996. Very solid, luxurious (it even had a graphic equalizer) and fast for its day. With the square back, it held tons of cargo. I was happy to drive it when I had the chance. It beat the crap out of the Queen Family Truckster that it replaced.
Uh, that would be the “WAGON Queen Family Truckster” that it replaced, no? Remember, “You think you hate it now, just wait until you drive it!”
One of my former employer’s wife had an original Cressida, a very nice Japanese Volvo. His main ride was a big 70’s Caddy, which ran well but had poor fuel mileage. He replaced it with a FWD bustleback Seville about the same time his wife got the Cressida. The Seville was, just awful. Constant problems with the car, he spent more time driving loaners than his own car. He drove his wife’s Cressida a lot back then, too. He trades the Seville for a Jaguar Sedan. It may have been a Vanden Plas, but it was also a larger POS than the Seville. Same story, only much more expensive, drives loaners, drives wife’s Cressida. Finally, into the early 90’s, he gives up on Jag ownership and buys an ES 300 for his wife (to replace the decade old Cressida) and a LS 400 for himself.
These folks are elderly now, and have stopped driving, but I believe they still have the Lexus’ that they bought about 20 years ago.
Additionally, I have truck driver friend who has one of the late Cressidas, but he only drives it to the yard, so it has very few miles for a 23 year old car. It will be a great buy for someone.
Credit where credit is due, ‘Yota built some really good cars in that timeframe.
I had forgotten about the graphic equalizer but yes our 84 Cressida wagon had one of those also. I think the seats in the Cressida were not as low to the floor as many other Toyota models (especially the trucks) and I am thinking our later 93 Maxima may have had seats lower to the floor than the Cressida. Kind of hard to remember now. During the early part of the current decade I was managing a branch library in Naples, FL and an older couple that used to come in every week had an 86 Cressida Wagon in showroom condition. I often told them I would love to buy it should they ever decide to sell but they indicated I should get in line. I’m retired now so I don’t know the rest of that story.
Jeff, I can’t believe this!
I was about to write a ‘Rent, Lease, Sell or Keep’ article for the 1986 Toyota Cressida.
I bought one this past Monday at a Carmax auction for only $300. Silver color (faded to hell), Leather (tore), Sunroof (works perfectly), A/C (ditto!), and the all too authentic 1980’s stereo system with built in equalizer.
It drives surprisingly well but needs a bit of brake work. I thought about keeping it. But the price of gas and my frequent travels makes my 1st gen Honda Insight worth keeping.
Still… an amazing coincidence. I loved your Olds Cutlass Supreme article as well. Great work!
Steven,
Can’t wait to see your piece on the Cressida. I NEVER miss Hammer Time. It is appointment reading at my house. In fact , my 19 year old son and I dissect, debate and even argue about them endlessly . (When dinner rolls begin to be thrown, we are nearing consensus). Your words are very kind. Thank you.
Hey, that’s my photo! (the maroon wagon with the neat alloy wheels) I remember taking it last year in one of the Michigan State University parking lots. I also have a rear angle shot, if you didn’t already see it. Gotta love the quirky dual rear wipers, just like the Gen3 Camry!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45538799@N04/4482427321/
I’ve seen that car around a couple of other times, IIRC driven by a MSU student, but it’s been a while now. Could have gone to the scrap heap, or perhaps the owner just graduated and moved away.
This here is my ’84 Cressida, that my Grandparents bought new back in October of ’83. I loved that car ever since I was little and knew it was something special even at that age. Whenever I stayed at my Grandparents I would look out the window at night when I was supposed to be sleeping at just look at it parked in the driveway. It was the car that practically sold my entire family on Toyotas ever since. My Grandpa sold it to my immediate family in 2003 and I drove it around throughout HS and my early college years before it got replaced by a mint ’94 Toyota Pickup. I still couldn’t let go of the Cressida though so I still drove it around on weekends. Sadly, she stopped working last December ( fuel pump went out is my best guess, but I’ll never be 100% certain) and got donated this past May. I still choke up knowing it’s gone and swear to myself I will get another 1984 Cressida, but I’ll never forget this car. Who says you Toyotas have no soul?
I hope you guys do a Curbside classic on the MX63 (2nd Generation Cressida like mine) soon. They truly are awesome cars that deserve some more attention.
Do you by any chance have the car care kit with the wax in it that came with the cressida. I would pay good money for it.
I bought the following Cressidas brand new. 1982, traded for 1986. Gave the ’86 to a family member. Next was a 1990……….had it only 3 week’s when a young female ran a light and totaled it. Vowed never to buy a new vehicle again. About a year later driving my wife’s ’89 Ford Tarus, I found a ’87 Midnight Blue Cressida, in NJ. Hope the photo uploads. It had only 42k on the odo. Covered with dust in the widow’s garage. Her husband had died and she just stowed it, and never drove it. I started it up and wound up buying it for $8,000. It had Pirellie’s but they had flat spots from never being driven for who knows how long. 4 new Toyo’s, a wash and good waxing made this car not only gleam, but turn heads where ever I went. No dings anywhere, and the paint looked like showroom. I LOVED all the Cressida’s I owned, and was very unhappy that Toyota sold their loyal Cressida owner’s down the tubes, when the turned it into the Lexus, and discontinued the Cressida 1n ’92. For that reason I would never buy another Toyota. The’re all front wheel drive which I despise. I kept the ’87 until 2009, with out any major repairs. I gave it to my sister with only 113,430 miles on the odo, in February ’09. I had purchased a 2009 Chrysler 300, at a sensational price. I love the 300 but I do miss my Cressida’s. If they made a Cressida today I would sell the 300 and immediately buy one.
There is a vehicle that could be the rebirth of the Cressida…..but with FWD. It also has AWD, which is initiated with the push of a dashboard button. In other words “On Demand”. That’s a great feature. However here is the downside……the tranny is a CVT !
CVT’s have had many owner’s stating they should had bought a manual tranny. What is the vehicle I have kept from naming……………Suzuki Kizashi. Don’t sell it short, I have hopes they will resolve this issue, and also offer a turbo or a more powerful 4 cylinder. Or better yet a V 6. I am waiting for the new ’13 to see what takes place. There is another problem. Suzuki has a very limited dealership in the USA. But if the new model Kizashi proves successlfull, except for FWD as I mentioned before, IMHO, this is the nearest vehicle to those wonderful Toyota Cressidas.
Here is my ’09 Chrysler 300.
This is my 1986 Cressida that my family has owned since it was new. The sticker price was an astonishing 19,100.00. High price but hey I am still driving it 26 years later.
Spotted this old island beater Cressida in St Martin while on a Caribbean cruise. Hopefully it is still running.
My Favorite Toyota Cressida would be the 1984 4 Door Sedan version since the one a Relative used as a Company Car had strong A/C, Sunroof and especially I remembered and like the automatic Front Passenger and Driver Seat Belts. In addition those Power Windows. This model also had powerful 6 cylinder engine. By today’s size, this car would fall in between the Corolla and most notably the Camry which BTW is only about a couple of inches longer than this Cressida but it has similar Curb Weight as today’s Corolla though.
I am looking for the car care kit that that came with the Cressida that includes the liquid car wax. I will purchase.
Did Toyota ever offer a “Troilus” option on the Cressida?
If the public was more educated on the Bard’s plays, Toyota might’ve chosen a different name. In that age, sedition was taken far more seriously than sexual slang & innuendo. What amazes me about Shakespeare is how hard it is for our distracted modern minds to digest his verses so rich with meaning.
My aunt & uncle had an ’86 Cressida; by this time Japan Inc. got their styling act together. Every Toyota I rode in back then felt utterly solid; Hondas & Toyotas just oozed quality back then, not quite as good nowadays. Our ’94 Camry felt inferior to our Japan-built ’86, though it was still a good car.
“but beware of the engine that succeeded the 5M GE. The new 3.0 L 7M GE installed in the ’89 has an appetite for 25 dollar head gaskets…which cost about $1200 labor to install. The same engine was installed in the Supra, and owners report that that model also suffered from the malady. It’s a designed- in flaw.”
Well it is a fixable design flaw. You see some moron in Toyota decreed that the head bolts be torqued down at 58 foot pounds which was too loose and caused the head gasket to fail under normal use. Once you replace the gasket and head bolts and torque them down at 85 foot pounds then you should have no more problems and the engine is a good, strong and reliable engine.
Thus the title of Henry Petroski’s book (which I recommend): “To Engineer is Human.”
Only interesting car Toyota made was the Toyota 2000 sports car in the sixties.
Would i buy a Toyota or let my family, big No!
I had an 82 Cressida that I bought from the original owners. It actually suffered from too few miles. After I bought it belts and hoses started going left and right. Fortunately I got into a crash and got double the money from insurance.
I had both a 2nd (82) and 3rd generation (88) JDM version of the Cressida called Cresta in Japan. The floorplan was shared with the Mark II and Chaser series. Much like in the UK, these were marketed as “middle” series cars, aimed at the middle management salaryman. The Crown always had the senior position, which it still holds today.
Both had the more modern 1G series straight six – a great engine – turbine smooth and with great power.
Superb cars – as with most Toyotas I’ve owned, never a mechanical problem but around 80-100K miles, the radio typically goes…….
Wow, I’d forgotten the extent to which these had followed GM with busy, fussy trim and details in this era. This could pass for an early Cutlass Ciera or an ’85 Olds 98.
Having lived in Kuwait previously, there was a family at an old apartment during the mid 80’s that had a chocolate brown Toyota Cressida which is when I was first introduced to the car.
After living in Canada I could appreciate these older surviving cars more because of the harsher Winter conditions. I had once taken my dad’s car to a mechanic over 10 years ago who owned a dark blue Toyota Cressida a long with a “new” VW Beetle.
There was also another guy I saw 4 years ago who kept a silver ’85 Toyota Cressida in his underground apartment parking garage while driving a beat up late 90’s BMW as his daily driver. I think that it was inherited from his grandfather. It was in descent shape with only a few scuffs/scratches below the front bumper. It had that square retro 80’s look that only some people would appreciate. You wouldn’t normally see it as the kind of “classic” car that someone would cherish and hang on to.
One night just a few years ago, an old 90’s Toyota Cressida caught my eye at a movie theatre parking lot. It was driven by a middle aged couple in their 50’s perhaps. I just thought it was interesting that they still go to the movies since most of the movie crowd were younger.
“Ask just about any Baby Boomer, X’er or Millenial what car epitomizes mechanical excellence and implied social status and a large majority will quickly answer “Lexus”. Now heading into its 23rd year, Toyota’s buy-up division has managed to stake out the high rent district that was once occupied by Cadillac, Mercedes, and in sportier nick, BMW. Aspirational cars, the lot of them.”
How much did Toyota pay you to make this outrageous statement? It might have held some water in the 1990’s, but I know very few people who would say the same thing today…
Although it’s true that Lexus did give the Germans a run for their money, it only lasted about a decade before they found ways to whup Toyota at their own game. Lexus sales have been relatively stagnant for a number of years, and they have become laggards compared to their competitors in terms of styling and innovation.
Mercedes and BMW were forced to learn how to make a car to sell at a certain price point, rather than develop a car and price it according to how much it cost to make.
I can’t speak for Cadillac, because it took GM a lot longer to figure out how to make a car to compete in this segment. But thank goodness they finally got there.
Given the choice between a 25-year-old Lexus or a similar Mercedes, which one would I choose? You’ll have to check my driveway…
“Ask just about any Baby Boomer, X’er or Millenial what car epitomizes mechanical excellence and implied social status and a large majority will quickly answer “Lexus”. Now heading into its 23rd year, Toyota’s buy-up division has managed to stake out the high rent district that was once occupied by Cadillac, Mercedes, and in sportier nick, BMW. Aspirational cars, the lot of them.”
How much did Toyota pay you to make this outrageous statement? It might have held some water in the 1990’s, but I know very few people who would say the same thing today…
DUDE, seriously! Baby Boomers might buy into the Toyota hype, but as a Gen Xer I like to think we as a whole aren’t buying it. I don’t think the Millenials are either, since to both our generations, these are Boomers (our parents’) cars. People in my age range loved Toyota pickups, supras, and celicas back in the early 90s but only one of those still stands. Even the FJ has had limited success, and its one of the only interesting rides they’ve built in I don’t know how long. Theyre killing that off now too. Seems that Toyota is on the fast train to becoming Buick 2.0. Act now! With the purchase of a new Camry, get a free walker and 4 month supply of Depends!
Whine all you want. The proof is in the monthly sales numbers and the reliability records. Safe, reliable, high resale = Toyota/Lexus (I’d add boring too; I’m not a huge fan). Only Honda comes close.
What Toyota/Lexus (and Honda) gave rise to was the concept that you can have it all – luxury and reliability – for a reasonable price.
It was in that reactive scramble that especially MB went downhill fast in their specialness, something perhaps they haven’t yet recovered from.
I’ve always quite liked these. It’s a square design, sure, but I like the proportions and they were also available with some interesting alloys (many shared with the Supra). I’ll still see a sedan occasionally but I haven’t seen a wagon in eons. Had a friend who drove one all the way through college (’98 to ’02), and I think she kept it afterward, though we lost touch.
These were one of the early adopters of composite headlamps in the USA as well; not many cars had them for ’85.
I’ve always thought that a wagon version would be a nice platform for a “sleeper” build. Lower it a bit but leave the exterior otherwise stock…and transplant in a 7M-GTE or even a 2JZ-GTE. That could be lots of fun…
I like these for mostly the same reason as the headline of this article. They nailed the quality in these and the next more curvilicious versions before they went all-in with the Lexus. Always on my shopping list when I’m considering a new car.
In the eighties, most people around me were driving not so reliable GM cars (Cavailers, Cutlass Cieras, Chevettes and Acadians) K cars of all kinds, Ford Tempos, cheap imports like Civics and Corollas or underpowered Diesel Volkswagens like my parents did.
But my two best friend’s father was driving a 1985 Cressida (he previously had a 1981 Cressida). We were often having rides everywhere with him in it and I was quite impressed by the quality of his car and how fast it was! At one of the few traffic lights on a two-lane street in my hometown, most people stayed in the left lane waiting in line and leaving the right lane empty (as they had to merge a few hundred feet after the intersection before the railroad track crossing). Unlike my father who was always left behind at traffic light races, my friend’s father always took the right lane with his Cressida and I have never seen him having to merge behind another car! I remember the ’85 Cressida had a plate on the console that said “Executive”. He then changed it for a 1989 Camry that he hated and he soon replaced the Camry with a new 1990 Cressida when I was 13 years old. He drove a lot back then and he got both cars to 300,000 kms quite quickly. They still looked like new when he sold them. After, he did buy a few 4 Runners and cars from different brands as there were no more Cressidas available (and no Lexus dealer around) but he bought a small Lexus IS recently.
About that two-lane intersection in my hometown, just a few years after, when I finally had my driver’s license, I refused to get the 1986 Jetta GLTurbo Diesel that my father wanted to give to me and I had a lot of fun at that intersection, passing anybody with my ugly $600 beater, a then 25 years old 1968 Buick Wildcat Custom 4 door hardtop that was equipped with the “performance axle” option, a 3.42 posi!
But my car’s suspension didn’t react the same way on that railroad track crossing as did the Cressida’s suspension and our heads were bumping on the cardboard headliner as my car was landing after passing over that track!
where do i get body pannels for a 1978 2 door cressida thanks
Well as for our opinions go on the Toyota Cressida I have owned 4 an 83′ 84′ 86′ 89′ still have the 83′ w/ 342,000 miles and I rebuilt the trans and the 86′ w/ 246,000 no problems so far. I also work at a Toyota dealer here in Georgia my dd is a 1980 sr5 pickup w/ a 20R and who knows how many miles it’s only a 5 digit odo said 42k when I got it now it’s at 38k. Now a short story GM helped Toyota get started here with the Land Cruiser and Crown the Crown made it into the 70s and the LC is now the longest running Toyota nameplate in the us. Bailout time as a loyalty to GM. Toyota had gave money to GM 2 times b4 the Government had to save them. Fun facts Isuzu supplies GM w/ diesel engines Isuzu is a subsidiary of Toyota and now so is Subaru. Model inbreeding look at the late 80s chevy nova or the Geo/Chevy Prism – Pontiac Vibe – Holden Apollo – and the Volkswagen Taro pickup or unsuccessful Toyota Cavalier just to name a few. All car company’s are guilty of inbreeding models ALL and it just go’s to show if you can’t beat em join em so next time you think I dispise automobiles from this company or that you might be driving their car and just don’t know it.
Still rolling with my beautiful ’85 here in BC. Bought from 93 yr old lady on Vancouver Island. 105km. A treat to drive and always getting the thumbs up.
I’m sure, specifically, that the voluntary restraint agreement (VRA) that Japan had with the US, was the main catalyst for premium Japanese cars here. If they were going to be limited on the quantity of cars they could import, they needed to make nicer and more-profitable cars.
Agreed. In essence, VRA allowed the Japanese to raise prices on its cars and make huge profits in the US, which they then used to invest in their luxury brands. Much of the blame for the decline of US premium brands can be traced back to VRA, ironically.
In 1985, I’d struggle to think of a better jack of all trades passenger car on the market. Big enough, swift enough, premium enough, reliability like a Swiss timepiece…
The wagon version comes to mind but yeah, that’s about it. The Maxima was similar but already FWD by that time if I’m not mistaken but got a significant facelift for ’85 that brought it up to date again.
A real estate agent I used in the late ‘80’s drove one of the rare manual transmission Cressida’s. I rode around with her, looking at houses I couldn’t afford and it was a pleasant ride. Nicer than the other agents’ Volvo’s, Tauruses … or white over white XJ6.
A neighbor of mine’s parents had a Cressida wagon of this generation. The seat covers ruin one of its coolest features, which was that the seats were tufted in a manner that shamed Italian leather furniture stores. Dual wipers on the rear window were also unique. My friend’s father had a white Porsche 944 Turbo, which made the Cressida seem all the more special. They also had an early fuel-injected German VW Rabbit sitting in their garage waiting for my friend to get his license, at which point they were going to fix whatever turned it into a static display item with trivial mileage.
A well-off family friend of ours replaced one of these with an EA Ford Fairmont Ghia. Even at the age of 11 I wasn’t sure that was a great decision, especially as he didn’t wait for the 4 stage automatic that I knew, from the Wheels magazines that he passed onto me, was on its way. I can’t remember what replaced the Fairmont. He had previously owned a red XJ6 until it was written off for reasons not fully explained and had a framed photo of the Jag.
Dang, I have a lot to get done, but took a quick look at CC and knew I had to take the time to comment…. we all know how that goes, right?
While this article focuses on the 3rd-gen Cressida, for me it really was the 2nd-gen that made the biggest impression on me a Japanese car ever did, as far as its impact on the industry.
A friend’s carpool mom came by the high-school to pick us up in her new ’83 Cressida…I got in the back seat, and let me tell you – it was a huge “Wizard of Oz” moment… meaning, the part of the film [SPOILER ALERT!!!!!]
in which the film goes from black-and-white to Technicolor.
Until that moment, Japanese cars were… well… JAPANESE CARS! As in, cramped as hell, even for small-framed high-schoolers – no A/C – horrible-sounding, anemic engines which could barely get us up the hill – roofs so low you would hit your head while going over anything larger than a medium-sized speedbump… knees jammed into the front seat back … everyone sitting all weird just to fit parts of themselves into places where the vehicle interior wasn’t….
Then….. that silver Cressida sedan pulled up and …. suddenly I was walloped with a huge slug of cognitive dissonance. “wait… wait … I’m IN A CAR!!!!” I could sit like a dignitary in the cushy back seat. the A/C was nice and crispy. The car rode quietly and cushily like a Continental, compared to the B-210s and Coronas surrounding us. The immediate effect was LUXURIOUS.
And…. I am serious …… the thought that immediately entered my mind was …. that Japan had graduated from making toys to making cars, and I knew that the ’70s “malaise era” was over. I knew that the Japanese had just strutted up the red carpet and the papparazzi had just mobbed them, leaving the Big Three standing there in their ill-fitting suits and second-hand gowns ….. knowing that they were OVER, and that the Japanese were about to eat their lunch … and dinner too, after having already filched their breakfast.
All this went through a 15-year-old mind in a flash.
“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore!”