It has taken a few decades, but Toyota Cressidas now show up at the big self-service wrecking yards in respectable numbers. I find these Lexus ancestors very interesting, so I shoot most of the ones I see; so far in this series, we have seen this ’80, this ’82, this ’83 wagon, this ’84, this ’84, this ’86 wagon, this ’87, this ’89, this ’90, and this ’92 (plus this ’79 and this ’86 wagon in my Junkyard Gems series).
Today’s Cressida is a zero-rust ’83 wagon in California.
264,248 miles, which isn’t very remarkable on a Cressida. Probably it still ran at the end, or it needed a $150 repair that the final owner didn’t consider justifiable for a 34-year-old beater.
For the 1983 model year, the Cressida received a bunch of Toyota Supra genetic material, including the very advanced (for the era) DOHC 5M-GE straight-six engine.
These horrible automatic seat belts were required on non-airbag-equipped US-market cars in the early 1990s, but Toyota included them voluntarily in these cars.
Toyota used some variation of this switch for decades in the automatic-equipped cars. My original Junkyard Boogaloo Boombox uses a Cressida ECT switch of this era to control the dual power antennas.
The word Cressida comes from the name of a character in a Shakespeare play.
In Japan, this car was known as the Mark II. Here we see the sedan pitched as a refined ride for a dignified and wealthy businessman.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Cressida, primarily the 3rd and 4th gen. Designed with T-squares and straight-edged tooling, these had a reputation for being fairly bulletproof. Six cylinder, double-wishbone rear suspension and rear-drive. Would make a fine DD…even today.
Looks like the RT142 bodyshell from the more pedestrian Corona. A very basic McPherson strut front suspension with a single arm (instead of the wishbone type) and rod and a coil/live axle/sway bar at back.
They rolled over like a drunk and squealed the tyres on all but the most gentle of road curves.
They were really nice Japanese Buicks. Proto-Lexus.
Saw a Diesel Cressida sedan on the road in the late 90s. What a unicorn that was. Lots of black smoke coming out of it.
No rust, nice.
2JZ swap?
Naah, people were doing JZ swaps in these cars a decade ago. The trend now is more for stock restorations or ’80s-90s VIP-style mods.
Power steering lines, running right across the front of the timing belt cover? Something to make you cuss when changing the belt. But, I’ve always liked these Cressidas. Nicely styled and incredibly reliable.
I wish my mom had bought a ’78 Cressida, instead of the her Chevy Malibu Classic. Even with its weird baroque styling, it would have made her much happier than than the horribly unreliable and shoddily designed and built Malibu. But then, hindsight is 20/20.
I wonder what’s up with that jumper wire on the driver’s seat? Maybe it has something to do with trying to troubleshoot the problem that finally doomed it to becoming a Junkyard Find feature?
I missed the opportunity to buy a really clean 2 owner ’90 Cressida with a mere 80k miles in it a few years ago for only $2k, still kicking myself about that. Love the way they drive, pretty darn close to something like a W190 Merc albeit floatier (the one I drove needed shocks). Smooth I6 power, RWD dynamics, in a very sturdy feeling and quite compact (by modern standards) package.
They were too small, and that’s why they couldn’t wear the Lexus badge!
It was bigger than the ES250.
Truth is, the ES250 was a last-minute addition to the lineup so US dealers would have something to sell besides the LS, until the GS and SC were ready in 1991. IMO, they would have been better off sending over pillared-hardtop Chasers instead.
Of course I agree fully with your Chaser idea. That ES250 was sad, but I like them now. There was a pristine, low miles example for sale in Palm Springs not too long ago, in the correct pearl over tan.
A year or three ago, I saw a first-gen ES300 parked next to an I30, both pearl over tan. If I’d had my phone, I would have taken a picture.
That’s a rare sighting. Between those, I think I’d pick the ES, since I’ve had the I30 already.
Also, yet higher up Toyota’s ladder back then, was the S130 Toyota Crown Wagon. An awesome combination of luxury and sturdy utilitarian design:
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Available with everything from a frugal diesel and small supercharged I6s, to the awesome 1UZ-FE 4.0L V8 in top trim lux models. They used a solid rear axle and the S130 generation was still BOF. So it’s basically a much better, Japanese, B-body Caprice wagon.
Toyota kept the S130 wagon in production for a decade, not replacing it until the S170 series in 1999.
very late S130: https://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/toyota/crown+station+wagon/21567968/
Nissan did something similar, keeping the mid ’80s Y30 Cedric wagon around into 1999.
the king of wagons: https://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/nissan/cedric+wagon/20515488/
One thing I couldn’t figure out, did those later 90s S130 wagons ever see the installation of the ubiquitous JZ engine family?
Yes, the 1JZ-GE was available beginning in 1991, and there are some JZS130 wagons around.
There was a 1JZ S130 hardtop sedan on Bringatrailer last year; that would be much rarer, with a roughly 1-year window of possibility before the hardtops went to the S140 series.
that 99 Crown Wagon is one of the most Japanese things I’ve ever seen.
Love the old square block steering wheels on these, like something from a bumper car.
Also enjoy the super conservative old ads from Japan. Mr. Businessman with his briefcase and joyous, yet not overly expressive wife.
Yep, you can imagine him working long hours as middle managament in some keiretsu unit that makes copy machines.
Up the chain, it’s eventually Mitsubishi.
Always love on the old ads when they say “ATARASHI TANJO,” whatever that means.
Nissan – fun. 2. Drive.
Boy I’m getting old. I thought this article was about the Toyota Crown wagon. A good friend of mine liked his so much that he bought a second one. Late 70″s I guess.