I feel like I’ve discussed how cars sort of exude a particular sort of national character here before. It’s one of those things about the automotive world that really fascinates me, because it’s very subtle but I think very real. Take almost any car-obsessive and show them an unfamiliar car, and I suspect they could at least tell you roughly where it came from, and they’re usually right. There’s just certain ways you can tell, say, an American car or a German car or a Japanese car or a French one and on and on. It’s not even a strict set of rules, as such, it’s more of a gut sort of feel.
There’s all sorts of overlap and fuzzy edges, too. Australian cars feel like bizzaro American cars (I’m sure it’s the opposite if you’re Australian) and every now and then you encounter a car that seems to hail from a part of the world other than what it seems. Sometimes that’s intentional, sometimes not.
For today, there’s a car I happened to notice a car that seems to be intentionally that way: the fourth-generation Toyota Cressida. I guess it’s not really a surprise this car feels so oddly American – the US and Canadian-spec cars were different from the rest of the world, so this was clearly intentional. Toyota wanted to make an American-feeling 1980s car, and I think they absolutely succeeded.
I mean, look at it; it’s not a bad-looking ’80s car, all straight ruler lines and restraint, but something about it – the door handles, the grille, the window trim and shape, the creases – just feels very American, and, even more specifically, very Ford.
This doesn’t look out of place:
Like, if you were to have told me that car up there was a new Ford that was going to replace the Fairmont, I’d have believed you. Here’s a Fairmont, in case you’re not reading this from 1986 and can’t just look out your window into the parking lot and see, like, four of these:
Look at the interior of the Cressida, and tell me this isn’t as American as apple sushi:
That button-tufted upholstery is just so very American. This reads like an American car interior, right down to the ’80s-tastic digital dashboard:
This was all Toyota’s plan, of course, and I believe they sold a ton of these here in America; I do remember seeing them all over the place when I was a kid.
It’s also interesting to me because I always thought of the previous generation of Cressida as feeling more European, specifically British:
There’s something vaguely Malaise-era Jaguar about the front end there, in a more restrained, squared-off way, and the rest of it feels oddly Austin-ish. But then I look at the coupé version of the Cressida, and all I see, to my surprise, is Mustang II!
Doesn’t that feel like a slightly improved Mustang II? It has no B-pillar, so it’s more of a hardtop look, which I like a lot, and the proportions are just a touch longer, but overall? These cars feel like siblings. I really wasn’t expecting that.
I’m sure there’s a whole research paper here, figuring out what exactly the styling cues are that suggest nationality, and if anyone wishes to take this on for a dissertation or whatever, I’m happy to consult. This feels like a good use of a postgrad education.
I made an account after lurking forever JUST FOR THIS ARTICLE.
My parents had a 1985 Cressida. They had it until a septuagenarian ran a red in front of the Sawgrass Mills mall. Whole fam in the car. I was in the front seat because it was 1995, and we still let 10-year-olds in the front, I guess.
I dont own a fun car. I may never. It’s not my thing. But I want an 85 Cressida.
I’d say the Rav-4 or Sienna is the most American personally. Maybe 35 years ago, the Cressida was, but think about it, the minivan is an American invention, and the crossover SUV fad started here, arguably with the AMC Eagle. Both were made to pander to the US market, before those markets exploded into a worldwide thing, and both are made here in the states now. IDK, just a thought.
Today I learned there was a Cressida coupe.
I would flip it around and say the Cressida was the most Japanese Buick.
Aside from the price, exclusivity, and craftsmanship, the first gen (1967-1997) Toyota Century always seemed pretty American to me – big, comfortable, plush RWD sedan with an understressed V8. Even the soft velour seats, angular plastic interior trim, and questionable ergonomics of control positioning all seems about right
I used to drive a 1988 Toyota Van (white cargo version), and learned that the very car-shaped Cressida sedan and the weird and awesome Van were built on the same platform – the Hanes manual was a two for one, covering both vehicles.
Lots of parts were interchangeable – e.g. the light assembly on my model had these cool turning lights on the front corners, same as the Cressida
I looked and found Chilton’s offered a Cressida/Van combined manual, but can’t find such an example from Haynes.
As to why they would pair those two, I’m frankly dumbfounded; the Cressida rides on a completely different chassis: it’s on the X70 chassis and the TownAce we got at that time was on the R20/R30. And the Cressida borrowed a lot of its running gear from the Supra – as far as the drivetrain was concerned, it pretty much was a Supra, just slightly down on power. As for being down on power, the TownAce was available with only one engine in the States: a 2.2 liter four-cylinder that sat under the (North American) driver’s right butt cheek. And where the Cressida borrowed a lot of drivetrain from Supra, the TownAce got a lot of its running gear from the Hilux – or as we called it in North America, the Truck.
So why Chilton would pair those two is beyond my reckoning.
[edit] I can’t remember if we got a diesel Van in the States at the time. I don’t recall seeing any come through the dealership but it’s been 40 years. I’ve slept since then.
Funny that this was right at the time when US manufacturers were all introducing their “euro” trims.
My mate’s dad had one of these – and my mate inherited it for a brief period in his late teens/early 20s before they scrapped it. This was around 2009 and I think they’d stopped bothering to service it four or five years previously. It left a wave of oil fumes in its wake and the tyres were so bald that my mate spun it out on an 80km/h road with a moderate bend in it (admittedly, he didn’t have the best reputation as a driver). As far as I can recall it never actually broke down though. He used to boast about how loaded with kit it was too, including a large (for the time) sunroof. If he still had it today I’d probably consider buying it off him.