- Toyota constructed the Origin to mark the manufacturing of its 100 millionth automotive.
- The design attracts inspiration from the 1955 Toyopet Crown sedan.
- Beneath the retro bodywork sits a 3.0-liter 2JZ six-cylinder engine.
All of us love a basic Toyota, however what if we informed you that, within the early 2000s, the automaker launched a particular sedan that flew beneath the radar exterior of Japan? That sedan is the Toyota Origin, a uncommon mannequin with fewer than 1,100 items produced throughout its 12-month manufacturing run. Now, because the Origin celebrates its twenty fifth anniversary, it won’t be lengthy earlier than we begin recognizing a number of of those elusive vehicles on US roads.
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A Throwback to Toyota’s Origins
Produced between Could 2000 and April 2001, the Origin would possibly initially make you suppose you’ve stepped right into a time machine. The design seems like one thing straight out of the Nineteen Fifties or Nineteen Sixties, and there’s a motive for that. When Toyota got down to construct the Origin, they took heavy inspiration from the first-generation Crown, which debuted in 1955 because the Toyopet Crown sedan.
Learn: Toyota’s New JDM Crown Property Will get A Pull-Out Deck Chair And 302 HP
Now, you is perhaps questioning, “Is {that a} typo? Is it actually Toyopet?” No mistake right here. The story goes that Toyota held a public naming competitors in Japan for its first passenger automotive, and Toyopet got here out on prime.
Images Toyota UK
The Toyopet Crown was a pivotal automotive in Toyota’s historical past and, by extension, Japan’s. It was not solely Toyota’s first full-scale passenger automotive but additionally the primary Japanese car to be exported and offered within the mainland United States. Nonetheless, the automotive didn’t fairly win over American consumers. Between its underwhelming efficiency and hefty price ticket of $1,999, which accounted for 67 p.c of the typical American’s annual wage in 1958, the Toyopet flopped laborious.
In the event you’re making an attempt to do the mathematics (we positively have been), right here’s the breakdown: that $1,999 from 1958 is roughly $22,468 right now, based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Curiously, that’s virtually the precise worth of Toyota’s most reasonably priced mannequin within the U.S. proper now, the Corolla sedan, which begins at $22,325.
The Toyopet’s failure additionally led to the demise of its title in Western markets. As Toyota later defined, “To English-speaking ears, the Toyopet model title was divisive, because it contained the phrases ‘toy’ and ‘pet’, each of which many felt had unsuitable connotations for a critical car in a discerning market.”
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Toyota rapidly pulled it from the US market and shifted focus to the extra profitable Land Cruiser. Nonetheless, the Toyopet stays a sentimental a part of Toyota’s historical past, which brings us to the Origin, a tribute to that vital first automotive.
The Toyota Origin: A Fashionable Traditional
Toyota initially made the Origin to commemorate the 100 millionth car it had constructed. The automaker did a powerful job of replicating the unique Crown’s design 45 years later, although the Origin is noticeably bigger, giving it a extra fashionable really feel with out shedding the classic attraction.
The entrance of the Origin is a sight to behold. It has easy spherical headlights and an intricate chrome-finished grille that makes the sedan appear a lot older than it truly is. The Nineteen Fifties affect is especially evident when viewing the Origin from the facet. The entrance half is comparatively commonplace for a three-box sedan, however the remainder is sort of uncommon.
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The rear finish is the place issues get actually attention-grabbing. The Origin options thick, curved C-pillars that mix into the roof, and the rear window has an uncommon form that provides to the distinctive look. The again doorways? Oh, these are suicide doorways, identical to on the unique, one thing you positively don’t see day by day on a contemporary sedan.
When it comes to dimensions, the Origin stretches to 4,560 mm (179.5 in) in size, 1,745 mm (68.7 in) in width, and stands 1,455 mm (57.3 in) tall, with a wheelbase of two,780 mm (109.4 in). It ideas the scales at 1,560 kg (3,439 lb).
Beneath all of it, the Origin shares its chassis with the Lexus IS of the time, powered by a 3.0-liter 2JE straight-six engine paired with a four-speed computerized transmission driving the rear wheels.
As for the inside, it’s a little bit of a letdown. Whereas the cabin options premium leather-based and actual wooden trim, it’s precisely what you’d count on from a mid-luxury Toyota of the early 2000s, nothing notably memorable. In reality, you might simply mistake it for a 2000 Lexus ES.
Manufacturing was initially capped at 1,000 examples, although it’s understood that 1,073 have been truly constructed.
Davey Japan
John Halas contributed to this story.
