Just outside of my hotel, as I was walking to the crosswalk in order to duck into yet another FamilyMart, one of the ubiquitous combinis blanketing Tokyo, I was stopped in my tracks by a very unfamiliar yet somehow familiar shape. After a second’s thought while I reflexively raised the camera and started snapping I recalled seeing this car in one of the car magazines a long time ago. Sure enough, after taking all the shots I could and looking up the name that I thought I saw on its flank, I remembered reading about the Toyota Origin and then completely forgetting about it for almost two decades. But this was my lucky day.
What is a Toyota Origin, you ask? Well, Toyota apparently saw the rest of the world getting into retro-themed cars and decided they might as well do one as well. As a result, they created a limited edition vehicle of which only 1000 examples were to be built, in actuality the run ended up with several dozen additional examples being produced. But while the rest of the world was recreating what had become icons of the motoring world, Toyota went in a slightly different direction.
Based on the platform of the Toyota Progrès, a midsize sedan, this was a premium offering and sold starting in November of 2000; they sold the lot of them within the next year and only in Japan. Styling was in the mold of the original Toyopet Crown with the same “interesting” touches such as the reverse D-pillar, suicide doors, and jewel-like tail lights.
The price at the time was seven million Yen each, which equated to about US$63,400, which when further adjusted for inflation (US, not Japan) equates to about US$90,000 today. A princely sum, in other words. As with the original Toyopet Crown, it does look a little homely and certainly more so than I’d like my $90k to purchase but it is distinctive and I suppose fairly rare, or at least I didn’t see any others. As with almost every car I saw in Japan it was in immaculate condition and this one was driven by a lady.
At least it’s adequately powered, being endowed with one of Toyota’s JZ engines, a 3-liter inline six also used in the Supra and the Lexus SC300, in fact this was one of the last uses of it. The interior was created from a blend of other Toyota and Lexus items and looks/feels sumptuous enough for the price, it’s not just your average Camry LE in there.
Sadly I didn’t get to see the actual interior of this one but felt lucky to just get these shots; right when you could use a good traffic jam it flows smoothly and just like that the Origin wafted on up the street.
This is a “mash up”. ’53 Studebaker roofline; Volga-GAZ nose; MG 1100 tail lights and Lincoln Continentalesque doors.
or Humber Sceptre roofline?
Wow! How cool. A+, would drive, etc.
Definitely has a British feel to it, as I guess it’s Toyopet progenitor had. I see some Vauxhall and Humber in it. Not as appealing as the originals though. But thanks for sharing yet another JDM car that I was completely unaware of.
The rear pillar and window is almost straight off the Audax Sunbeam Rapier.
Somehow the Rapier carried it off better though.
True! As for the front, it would have worked a lot better if the headlights had come forward on wings a bit. Not aerodynamic, probably not pedestrian friendly, but it would frame the grille better.
My thoughts also, though also the first Sceptre is in there somewhere.
It is not easy to make a modern retro looking car that doesn’t not look off in someway or cartoon-ish. This one succeeds quite well. The Nissan PAO, MGF are other good examples.
Wow, I really like that. $90k is rather steep, but such is exclusivity…
I took a quick look at the Japanese auctions and they are still very expensive for a used example. I saw one for ~ $55k cad.
I saw one in Macao many years ago so at least one made it out of Japan.
I like it, exterior anyway. I’m guessing from your description that the interior does not continue the retro styling, though, and that would be disappointing. I can’t recall the name, but I believe Toyota made another retro-themed car in the early 2000s. I think it was smaller, and they used a similar parts-bin approach to the interior that, while well-crafted, didn’t match the exterior flavor at all.
Here’s a pic of the dash. Not retro!
Standard issue Toyota Progrès interior
This reminds me of that place that is reproducing brand-new, mid-sixties Mustangs with modern drivetrains and mechanicals for a cool $185k.
A few decades ago, there was another outfit that was doing something similar with sixties’ GM musclecars, and the price was just as lavish compared with a perfect original version.
Love it!
Beautiful. It’s a better echo of American ’50s luxury than the original Toyopet was. I can see a ’54 Imperial. The original was more Simca Vedette than anything American.
The Vedette was designed by the Ford studios. In 1954 Simca acquired their French factory and kept the model in production until 1963. They made a facelift in 1958 but the general lines did not change.
Looks like something created for government officials in a communist country, though I’m not surprised as Japanese automakers have been known to take the whole retro trend to the extreme over the years. The Nissan Figaro also comes to mind.
Quite the catch. Love it.
Can’t unsee.
After looking at these pictures several times today, I still can’t decide whether I love it or loathe it. For a retro-themed car, I think it’s overall well done… the biggest single annoyance for me is the handlebar-mustache grille, which seems unnecessary.
I would love to see one in person.
The obviously modern A pillar spoils the effect some for me. If Toyota could somehow fit a fishbowl windshield and thin chrome reverse-angle A pillars, it would be a convincingly retro package. Curiously, no attempt was made to make the interior look retro, not even small touches; the inside looks like that of a contemporaneous Lexus.
The twin-oval grille insert, like that in the original Toyopet Crown, was inspired by the in-wing jet intake of the world’s first passenger jet, the DeHavilland Comet.