Paulvaranasi found one of the odder cars of the dawn of the 21st century, on the island of Malta no less. The WiLL Vi was built by Toyota, between January 2000 and Dec. 2001, as part of the WiLL brand marketing experiment that was targeted at a young Japanses demographic and included a number of companies selling various products, from Asahi WiLL beer, WiLL candies, Panasonic WiLL appliances, and even WiLL resorts. The experiment was not really a success, although it did raise the awareness of young consumers to some of these consumer goods. Or was it the other way around?
Toyota launched a similar undertaking in the US, which ended up being called Scion. But for a brief period of time, there was actually a WiLL website aimed at young Americans to gauge their interest in this particular vehicle. I remember visiting it; not that I was of the right demographic. But I was intrigued at the idea of Toyota selling this car in the US.
The WiLL Vi was based on the Vitz/Yaris NBC platform, as represented by the white Yaris conveniently parked in front of it. That platform also spawned the Toyota bB, which became Scion’s first model in the US (xB). It reflected the era in Japan when retro design was the hot thing, and Nissan’s “Pike Cars” (Figaro, Pao, S Cargo) were hot). Toyota had found themselves clearly behind Nissan in this whole wave, and the WiLL project was their response.
Needless to say, its stylistic inspiration was undoubtedly the Citroen Ami 6, that evergreen ugly-cool-mobile. I happen to like the results of this Japanese retro-wave, including the WiLL Vi, for providing some refreshing variety to the sea of blob-mobiles. Too bad they didn’t come to the US; who knows, I might be driving one of these instead of an xB.
Quite a lot of these in NZ ex JDM mainly I see them driven by young women and driven hard on some occasions yeah they’re a styling exercise but theres a reasonable car underneath.
My local ex-JDM dealer brings in quite a lot of left-field stuff, such as this. I’m looking for a new van atm, so I popped down there. He had a Nissan Pao (bet you haven’t seen many of them), BMW 850, VW Corrado G60, Maserati 222, Mk I Golf cabrio and out the back I saw signs of a couple of other interesting motors. Didn’t have anything for me unfortunately, although tbh having viewed a few dozen ex-JDM vehicles, I’ve really gone off them. The ones that don’t stink of cigarette smoke seem to stink of Tsunami, and they all have ridiculous entertainment systems and gizmos glued all over the dashboard. And I don’t think any of them had ever had an oil change.
Much cooler than the iQ for sure – sort of a hybrid between the 2CV & the original beetle. I love the indentations on the bodywork and external hinges on the trunk. Gives it a slightly handmade look.
Likewise here. If it drove as well as my xB, it’d be interesting. And I’m willing to bet that it has a lower roof than the xB, one of my few complaints about the car (the other two are lack of cruise, and it really needs a 6th gear on the interstate). Roof height is a huge thing with me, as I’ve got a Yakima rack mounted permanently and am transporting bicycles at least a couple of days a week. When I’ve got one of my 20 pound road bikes on it, no big deal; but it’s a real pain in the ass when I’m loading and unloading my rod braked Raleigh Tourist (see: Downton Abbey bicycles).
While my mind’s on the subject: While left hand drive and the steering wheel and wheels are marked Scion, all the other markings on my car are bB, not xB. Was this some kind of JDM kit? The car is a 2005.
No cruise control? It’s a quick (2 hr) DIY job; they’re very readily available. I simply can’t live without cruise, and I added mine right away.
Those JDM bB emblems were a popular thing back in the day. I’m assuming you bought it used? They’re also readily available.
The car was originally badged Toyota BBin JDM land.
cruise control was available as a dealer-option add-on. I believe it was a Rostra kit that was used. The Rostra cruise control part # 250-1755 is for the xB and goes for around $210.
The xBs were factory badged that was i the us, but there are a lot of companies selling the ‘bB’ Japanese badges, so the prior owner likely changed them.
Did you perchance get an interior shot? The strakes on the door must have inspired Ford. Overall a ‘well-done on the weirdness’ award.
I think you still came out ahead with the xB gen I. I think the Kia Soul has become the new xB in spirit at least. It’s a hell of a lot nicer than the xB II.
A number of detail & interior shots at this export site:
http://www.beforward.jp/toyota/will-vi/bf194019/id/189538/
In spite of obviously trying hard to have a trendy appeal, I find it comes across as spartan and industrial. But It has potential.
I’m wanting to find charm in it, but if only they could master imbibing character in cars like this one.
The early 1980s Tercel SR5 wagons, for example, had significantly more personality than this one.
I think that was actually one of the goals of most late 90s Japanese retro cars. They were drawing heavily from post-WWII European “people’s cars” and early kei car styles; cars that could all be described as spartan, industrial and cute. Most were far more overtly retro than the New Beetle or PT Cruiser (check out the exposed latches and incredibly generic tail lamps on the Nissan Pao below).
The Vi kinda splits the difference in that it has the most radically vintage shape yet incorporates a lot of then-modern styling elements. Personally, I like it, but I do think it looks almost a little too “concepty” to be taken seriously. I’m also not sure how they could have rectified that problem without totally ruining it’s visual impact and the whole “WiLL” marketing aspect is just confusing to me so I don’t think about it.
It would make a great looking toaster.
Seriously, IMO the design is a bit harsh and industrial. Doesn’t possess the whimsy of the Ami. From the B pillar backward, there is a ‘melted candle’ collapsing effect happening.
The ‘corrugating’ on the side kinda looks like it was sideswiped by a mid 90s Pontiac. And the Pontiac’s cladding left a permanent impression on this Toyota.
It does remind me of the mid 1990s Chrysler CCV (Composite Concept Vehicle). Which was inspired by the Citroen 4CV.
It was too deliberately styled. I don’t know about the Citroen Ami, but it at least comes off as having been a mistake, not a calculated marketing exercise. Also, as far as I know, the Ami wasn’t accompanied by bonbons and resorts on the Riviera.
Toyota also tried an eight passenger version. Suffice to say, the third row passengers complained of entry/exit issues.
I think that looks pretty cool, if you ignore that the driver would be unable to see out the back.
Solved. With a fixed fastback window. Offering similar visibility to the Ford Mustang Sportsroof.
How about a bubble top at the rear for the Limo version? Suitable for heads of state of very small countries.
You got me Daniel M. On my iPhone screen yesterday I assumed that was a WiLL variant that I hadn’t seen before. Now I see it on a much bigger PC screen, I see what you did there!
I fully agree Perry. It comes across as contrived, while hoping to seem cute.
I suppose cuteness could’ve been the goal.
It would have been- there is a strange obsession with cuteness right across Japanese society, not just with young girls as it tends to be in the West.
Same category: the Citroën C3 Pluriel with its detachable roof bars.
With the bars and a roof:
That car kind of reminds me of the current generation Fiat 500 which sadly gets lumped into the same demographic as the Smart car but is more roomy then most think.(I had a 500 as a dealer rental for a week last week and it drove well on the highways(495) and the snow.
With the bars, without the roof:
No bars, no roof. But with a girl and her sugar daddy. Or the French president with his mistress.
It’s definitely a French Bulldog of a car.So ugly it’s cute
First thing that came to mind was the 1980 Buick Riviera back light, the square back glass that was made popular on the GM intermediates of this era. Strange and quirky, to say the least, something only the Japanese (and possibly the French) can get away with.
Looks like a Versa sedan that was rear ended by a pickup truck
Somebody really beat on that car with an ugly stick!
Have strakes ever worked on anything?
I was working in Tokyo the summer of 2000, and I remember visiting the WiLL showroom in Harajuku – the district where all the global and Japanese fashion brands had their boutiques. They had all the products on display – the car, the washer/dryer, the beer. Somewhere I have a cut-and-fold paper WiLL car, and some postcards. You still see the Nissan Pike cars a fair amount in Tokyo; these very rarely. As Perry noted, it was too self conscious – too much marketing science, and not enough art.
I like it- it’s cheery, quirky and certainly retro. I generally like any car that references the past, the Volvo C30 being another of my favorites. As an Xb1 owner however, owning the WiLL Vi might be bridge too far, even for me.
Great article – you beat me to it – I was actually thinking about doing an article on these – main theme being the similarity in thinking between Toyota and Kaiser Frazier.
Toyota’s WiLL retail strategy was to market these cars at separate “Vista” stores, that also sold a variety of other WiLL badged products, similar to Kaiser Frazier’s attempt to sell their Henry J thru Sears stores as the Allstate. While the WiLL franchise was wholly owned by Toyota, and Kaiser Frazier and Sears were separate companies, the marketing strategy was similar. The broad family of WiLL products were geared toward female customers.
Toyota obviously tried to copy 50-60s European styling, mainly French, but didn’t quite get it right. They followed the Vi up with the Cypha, which looked like a Corolla that had spent too much time in a big microwave……..
More telling perhaps is just like the ill-fated Allstate, the WiLL experiment ended in failure also.
.
Harajuku girls you got the wicked style…
The real gem of the WiLL series was the VS. While the Vi was looking backwards, it was looking light years into the future (or about 6 years in terms of automotive design). Although they only built a couple thousand, it was surely one of the most influential designs of the ’00s. Who would honestly guess this was a car built in 2001 if I didn’t just tell you that?
Haha, CC effect: I parked beside a retina-searing orange WiLL Vi at the shopping centre last weekend. Didn’t take photos as I decided it wasn’t CC material – I stand corrected!
As Bryce and Chaz have noted, we have oodles of WiLLs here. First one I saw was a black VS in 2002ish. Sure it looked like Darth Vader’s helmet in wheels, but 12 years later it hasn’t aged a bit. Even the interior is still excellent. The Vi is just Ford Anglia weird, but the VS is a stunner, the only late-model Toyota I love. Makes me wish Toyota could be as adventurous again!