I’ve said it before, and many others have too: Japanese carmakers always had a propensity to make some of their best designs for the exclusive consumption of their beloved home market. You can’t blame them. After all, where would they be without it? In yet another illustration of this contention that the Japanese public always got preferential treatment, let us examine the case of the rather tasty X60 hardtop, here in its Chaser form.
From 1980 to around 2000, Toyota’s X-platform was king of the JDM. It all started off as the Corona Mark II in the late ‘60s, but soon became its own thing, dropping the Corona bit and sprouting three variants: the Chaser in 1976 and the Cresta in 1980, which were strictly domestic. The last variant, the Cressida, came about in 1976 and was strictly for export. It was also only proposed in pillared saloon and wagon form: the X40 hardtop coupé (1976-80) and the hardtop saloons that followed never bore the Cressida name.
This is the X60 Cressida – Toyota’s global X-car, though this North American version does have its own quirks (e.g. quad headlights) not necessarily seen in all regions. Its styling is closely modelled on the JDM Mark II, which was just as bland, in pillared saloon form, for Japanese customers as it was for anybody else.
The Chaser version had a little more flavour, bearing the same composite headlights and grille seen on the hardtops (top: 1980-82; bottom: 1982-84), but the car still had the same staid, Volvo-like body. (That’s not to disparage Volvos in any way, but the previous generation Cressida/Mark II/Chaser saloon looked a lot less square, in all senses of the word.)
Confusingly, some markets did get the Chaser formal saloon, albeit badged as Cressidas. The newcomer Cresta, for its part, only existed as a hardtop.
And said hardtop (which is not a real hardtop but a pillared one; this was starting to become the fashion on Japanese cars in 1980) was really a different animal. Where the formal saloon looked boxy and upright, the hardtop was dynamic and almost delicate.
The rear end was also completely different, with a touch of an Italian feel. From this angle, it looks like a Rolls-Royce Camargue that went on a diet of miso soup and raw fish.
And how period-perfect is that grille? The “Avante” call-out is obviously important enough to be featured on both the front and the back end. Why? Because it’s the highest trim level, of course. When you spend all those yens on your brand new Chaser, you want the world to know.
Here’s the pecking order for the X60 Chaser hardtop, then – in reverse order, as Japanese printed material always goes from right to left, even if the language is written from left to right. Only the XL was available with the 1.8 litre OHV 4-cyl., which only produced 95hp. It could also get the 105hp 2-litre OHC 4-cyl., which was also found on the XG and the GT. The SXL, SG Touring and Avante all got the new G-type 1988cc OHC straight-6 – the same motor found on the Celica XX / Supra, the Z10 Soarer and the S110 Crown. In 1980-82, the six only provided 130hp, but an extra 30 horses were unleashed when the X60 platform got its mid-cycle refresh.
The Avante trim package got you not just the bells, nor merely the whistles, but what might well be the ultimate 1980s Brougham-tastic attribute for a car interior: button-tufted velour seats (in blue – I’m unsure whether other colours were available, as our feature car’s seats are exactly identical to those shown in X60 sales brochures.)
Sitting in all this Blue Velvet back when this car was new must have felt like you just died and went to the great whorehouse in the sky. A bit cramped, for a bordello, though. I’m not sure how far back those front seats are, but the guys who emerged from this car were all well under six feet tall, so my guess is “not that much.” Looks like piss-poor rear legroom by any measure, then. But still, that upholstery… So bad it’s *almost* good.
I’m not sure anyone in, say, Europe or Australia, would have been all that keen on this Broughamized X60, but why did Toyota never even attempt to sell these in North America, velour and snazzy roofline included, with a Cressida badge (though in this instance, the JDM name was a better one)? Stuffed with enough toys and priced competitively, wouldn’t they have sold like hotcakes in places like California or New England?
Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure Toyota of America must have looked into it. Perhaps they showed these to a few focus groups and the results were underwhelming. Perhaps Toyota were already selling as many as they could build anyway, so more demand would have been more of problem than an opportunity. Whatever the reason, here’s another one that Japan kept to themselves. They need to learn to share.
Related posts:
CC Outtake: 1983 Toyota Cressida – Metamorphosis, by PN
Vintage R&T Review: 1983 Toyota Cressida – The Proto-Lexus, by PN
By hardtop, does that mean there’s no “B” pillar between the front and back doors? If there is, then it’s a sedan, not a hardtop.
That’s what they called it, so that’s what it’s called.
“Pillared hardtops”, nonsensical as the term might seem, were a thing for a good while in Japan.
During the heyday of four-door hardtops in Japan, there were some that were actually pillarless and some that were not, and since the pillared models often competed directly with pillarless ones, it was useful to use the same generic term for both.
There’s a clear similarity to the “four-door coupes” with which the high-end German brands have become enamored in recent years, like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and the BMW Gran Coupes. These are not coupes in any technical sense (even the fussy old EPA “less than 30 cu. ft. of rear seat volume” one), but, like the JDM hardtops, they’re four-door models that deliberately sacrifice some practicality for style. If you say “BMW or Audi four-door coupe” at this point, people generally know what you mean.
I think I recall a Toyota add…. Get your hands on a Toyota, you’ll never let go. I guess I may be unlike others, but (loving 🇺🇸 LAND YACHTS) I wouldn’t ever touch a Toyota. Mitsubishioyotanissan! 😠 😡 😤
A set of (thin) white wall tires! Wow. I assume this would have come with some styled wheels or wheel covers as standard but the owner is going for the bare rim look. Those blue seats and interior are definitely something. Those much larger wing mounted mirrors are likely more useful than the small and delicate Seventies chrome ones but they look a little comical.
As I’ve said in other articles on here, I have always like these types of Japanese cars. In the USA, I always liked and wanted a Cressida or older Maxima or 929, etc. However, the one thing I’ve never been able to get over is the car having such nice seats and often door trim and then having such plain and often ugly dashes. Many times just all black and looks like hard plastics everywhere. This is really evident in the 4th from last pic. But love those seats.
I’ve always liked Cressidas but never owned one. Toyota’s superior fit and finish in that era and that silky smooth inline six are nice.
Some minor correction regarding powertrains in these pre-facelift X60s; the inline-six 1G-EU was listed to be good for 125ps in this application. Of particular note, however, is despite this motor being utilized in ‘top’ Chaser models, it was not the most powerful variant. The GT, equipped as standard with a 135ps DOHC four-cylinder 18R-GEU, was. Torque output was equal between the two motors at 17.5kg/m, but the six made this peak 400rpm lower at 4400rpm (the same difference was true of peak power; 5400rpm vs. 5800rpm). Weight of a GT was listed as equal to the mid-rung six-cylinder SG Touring.
I find this very appealing with its bare grey steel wheels with thin whitewalls.
Very nice. It has the front end we got on the local Cressida, but is totally different from the cowl back.
Must be popular in Japan: from memory I think there are kits out there of each of the X60 variants. One was enough for me.
Nice condition, there used to be lots of these roaming the roads here but they are mostly gone now.