JDM Classic: 1978 Toyota Mark II Grande 2600 – With All The Fixin’s

Well, it’s a late ‘70s Cressida by another name, isn’t it? All well and good, but why should anyone care? It may not be obvious to the naked eye, but this is a pretty rare example of the Toyopet (argh, that name) Mark II. For a start, it’s in pristine and rigorously stock condition. But more interestingly, the person who ordered it 45-plus years ago ticked virtually every box on the options list, including the 2.6 litre engine.

And going for an engine that large was extremely rare at the time. Until the early ‘90s, the Japanese classed cars in three rigid tax categories: kei cars, “5-number” and “3-number.” The keis, I assume we all know. The 5-number cars (i.e. the top line on the license plate starting with a 5, were standard class cars: width under 170cm, length under 470cm, engine under 2000cc) were what everyone drove if they could afford it. The 3-number cars, chiefly composed of imports, were luxury.

The difference in tax and shaken (periodic inspections) requirements between the three car classes were once very significant. Since the ‘90s, the kei cars are sort of in a realm of their own and the 5- and 3-number cars are closer, tax-wise at least. This was done deliberately by the Japanese authorities at the behest of the larger domestic carmakers so they could capture a larger slice of the higher end of the market.

Nowadays, cars are still taxed in Japan more the larger they are, but annual automobile taxes are now more gradual, broken down in over a dozen increments (660-1000cc; 1001-1500cc; 1501-2000cc; 2001-2500cc and so on). So “3-number” cars – the license plate system still exists – are now pretty commonplace, be they domestic or imported. Back in the ‘70s, however, things were quite different.

We’re talking about a time when the only oversized / luxury saloons proposed by the domestic makers were the likes of the Nissan President or Mitsubishi Debonair. Well, almost. Since the late ‘60s, a few regular models, such as your Laurel, Cedric or Crown, could also be special-ordered with an export 6-cyl. engine that went over the 2-litre limit. I mean, I’d always see those in brochures, alongside Diesels and optional leather seats, but never in real life.

This was the X30 Mark II, a new model through and through. The nameplate, born in 1968 and now in its third generation, was now completely separated from its Corona origins. It sprouted a sister car called Chaser and an export version named Cressida and had generally evolved into the Toyota range’s hottest upper-mid-range car.

Available in 4-door saloon, van/wagon or 2-door hardtop, the X30 Mark II was granted access to the “big” 2563cc 135hp M-Series OHC straight-6 in June 1977, a little over six months after the X30’s launch. Naturally, only the saloon and coupé could be ordered with the prestigious 2.6 – wagons were never going to belong in this class in those days.

The great majority of the X30 range kept a live rear axle, with a four-link system and coils for most 4- and 2-door cars and cart springs for vans/wagons and taxi-grade base model saloons. But the higher-trim cars, i.e. the Grande 2600, Grande, LG Touring and GSL, had semi-trailing arm IRS to justify their notably higher price.

These were packed with as many toys as could be made to fit in them, of course. The automatic transmission was already a common sight on larger JDM cars. In the first weeks of 1978, said transmission was upgraded to a 4-speed box for higher-end Mark IIs.

Aside from that, power everything, A/C, a sophisticated radio and velour upholstery were part of the package. The cherry on top has to be the rear wiper – a truly rare accessory in those days. Rear passengers didn’t really get much, but those were driver-oriented models, unlike the more formal and potentially chauffeur-driven Crown.

The X30 was when the Mark II really came into its own, and quite handsomely, too. It even shed the silly Toyopet moniker by late 1978 when the model got its mid-life facelift: our CC here is one of the very last cars bearing that unnecessary name, though it is still present as one of the Toyota dealer networks. Those were supposed to be all amalgamated into one entity by now – and they may well have been, legally-speaking, but the old “Corolla,” “Toyopet” or “Netz” network signage is still up.

However pleasing the design may be to our eyes today, the fact remains though that the X30 Mark II sold quite poorly in Japan: fewer than 200k units, which is the nameplate’s second-worst tally – only the final (11^th) generation Mark II of 2000-04 did marginally worse. It did well overseas though, so Toyota took it in its stride and the next generation Mark II, unveiled in late 1980, built on the X30’s many innovations and continued to push the nameplate up to where the Crown used to be, albeit with a more dynamic, owner-driver image.

In the end, Toyota fielded far too many models in the 2-to-3-litre saloon niche, leading to a massive cull in the early Naughties that ended the Mark II, along with a half-dozen other nameplates. But for a good while, i.e. throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, larger RWD saloons straddling the “3- and 5-number” tax bracket like the Mark II were a major domestic money-maker for Toyota. And it all started with this Grande 2600.

 

Related CC Reading

Curbside Classic: 1979 Toyota Chaser SXL Hardtop Coupé (X40) – Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? No, It’s Superfluous!, by T87

Curbside Classic: 1978 Toyota Cressida — That Euro-Brougham Kind Of Thing, by Rich Baron

Curbside Classic: 1978 Toyota Cressida Wagon – I Love What You Do For Me, Mini-Cordoba Wagon, by Tom Klockau

CC Capsule: 1978 Toyota Corona Mark II (X30) GL 2000 – Out In The Open, by T87