Toyota took the Corona, first Japanese car to be a big sales hit in the United States, and split off a larger and swankier version known as the Toyota Mark II for the Japanese market. Starting in 1977, Toyota USA sold the Mark II in the United States as the Cressida, competing with the likes of the Datsun 810 (the Nissan Maxima's ancestor) and various sporty European luxury sedans. I've photographed a bunch of discarded Cressidas over the years, but nearly all of them have been from the late 1970s/early-1980s period (which I find the most interesting due to the weird technology found in these machines). The later Cressidas led directly to the development of the smash-hit Lexus LS400, and sales of the two cars even overlapped for a couple of years. Here's a hard-to-find example of a Cressida made when the car had to compete against the LS400 above it and the Camry beneath it.
Closely related to the Toyota Supra, the Cressida had the same 200-horsepower 7M straight-six engine. Unlike the Supra, though, American Cressidas had no manual-transmission option.
As you’d expect, these cars often made it to 300,000 miles. This one must have been treated a little more harshly than most Cressidas, though, attaining a mere 189,639 miles. The 1991 Lexus LS400 sold for $38,000, while the 1991 Cressida listed at just $22,198. Not that the Cressida came close to the LS in terms of power, bulk, and luxury, but both were substantial rear-wheel-drive sedans built for the long haul.
This car’s final owner solved a broken-rear-glass problem via the ol’ duct-tape-and-trash-bags method. This would have been appropriate on, say, a ’91 Daihatsu Charade or Hyundai Scoupe, but it’s just wrong on a Cressida.
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