If you take a look now at the sixth generation Toyota Mark II, or Cressida, as it was better known in the US, you’ll probably say its a heap of scrap metal dragging its rear end on the road waiting to be crushed and go where all cars go eventually - the foundry. But then, you might be wrong, because this car still has a lot of life in it and comes with some interesting features.
Firstly, most people consider this a detuned Toyota Supra with four doors, because the standard engine is a 7M-GE straight-six making 190 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque. Which is still enough for a sedan even by today standards.
The 1988-1992 generation Cressida was also the last of its kind to wear the classic boxy sedan shape of the period, making it somehow iconic. The automakers’ struggle to add interesting features to the period’s cars also left some marks on the Cressida. The comfortable and quiet interior also comes with a driver-oriented central console with tons of buttons just like a war plane and also those experimental automatic seatbelts.
Another important role of the 1990’s Cressida was the fact that it helped constructing the Lexus LS 400 luxury sedan, which also replaced it on some markets.
Big, sturdy, reliable, having a longitudinal straight-six engine and a cockpit-ish instrumentation probably explains why a World War II airplane pilot bought one in 1990. But that and more in Regular Car Reviews’ newest podcast bellow, where Mr. Regular tells us the story of his grandfather’s Cressida.
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