Junkyard Gem: 1992 Toyota Previa All-trac With 5-speed Manual Transmission

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Toyota Previa All-Trac with 5-Speed Manual Transmission

Between the boxy Toyota Van of the middle 1980s and the competent-but-unexciting Sienna of our current century, Toyota spent much of the 1990s trying to sell Americans the oddball Previa minivan. A masterpiece of engineering wrapped in a goofy-yet-futuristic-looking egg-shaped body, the Previa boasted a mid-mounted engine flipped on its side and located beneath the front seats. Later versions had an intercooled supercharger, and Previa shoppers wishing for better grip in mud and snow could get Toyota's innovative All-Trac all-wheel-drive system. All-Trac Previas are slightly easier to find in Colorado junkyards than their Camry brethren — yes, there was a Camry All-Trac in the late 1980s and early 1990s — but a Previa with All-Trac and a manual transmission? That super-rare combination is exactly what we've got for today's Junkyard Gem!

Toyota Shows Off New Mirai Fuel Cell Car In Fresh Push For Hydrogen Technology

Toyota shows off new Mirai fuel cell car in fresh push for hydrogen technology

TOKYO — Japan's Toyota Motor Corp put its revamped Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, with 30% greater range, on sale Wednesday in a fresh push to promote the zero-emission technology amid rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles, including its own.

Toyota has failed until now to win drivers over to fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which remain a niche technology despite Japanese government backing, amid concerns about a lack of fueling stations, resale values and the risk of hydrogen explosions.

Video: Toyota Cuts The Roof Out Of A Brand New Supra

Video: Toyota cuts the roof out of a brand new Supra

It's not often that we see behind the scenes of SEMA builds, but Toyota is taking us there right now. Two builds are in progress, but the Supra project has the majority of our attention.

The main appeal is watching the roof be cut out of the brand-new Toyota GR Supra. You can see it happen in the video at the top of this post. Of course, the joy of removing the roof from the new Supra stems from the targa top option of the previous Supra. The fifth-gen Supra is only available in hardtop coupe form, but if you really want a Supra convertible, just buy a BMW Z4.

Toyota Electric Suv Coming To Europe In 2021

Toyota electric SUV coming to Europe in 2021

Toyota is finally ready to dive headfirst into the rapidly expanding electric vehicle segment. The giant Japanese automaker will kick off its EV charge first in Europe with a new electric sport utility vehicle that will ride on a platform the company calls e-TNGA (we think that's short for electric-Toyota New Global Architecture).

This SUV will be the first of six planned electric vehicles coming soon from Toyota. Best we can tell, this is the same vehicle that the automaker teased back in the summer of 2019 when it announced its partnership with Subaru. At the time, the company said the EV would be about the size of a RAV4 or Forester, which matches the information released with this latest announcement. The e-TNGA platform can support front-, rear- or all-wheel drive and can be stretched or shrunk with modular battery modules to support various vehicle designs and requirements.

Toyota Rav4 Prime Fails The Moose Test In Sweden

Toyota RAV4 Prime fails the moose test in Sweden

Swedish publication Teknikens Värld has a reputation for calling out automakers who fail its proprietary moose test, in which a fully loaded vehicle is driven through an S-shaped obstacle-avoidance course at moderate speeds. The test is designed as a way to imitate a potential worst-case scenario, like when a large animal or a child darts into the street and forces a driver to take emergency evasive action.

Lots of vehicles pass the test without much drama, which requires completion of the course within the lines at a speed of at least 72 kilometers per hour (44.7 mph), but occasionally a vehicle performs poorly enough that Teknikens Värld confronts the automaker with the results. The latest vehicle to draw the ire of the publication is the Toyota RAV4 Prime.

2021 Toyota C-hr Gets Top Safety Pick Award From Iihs

2021 Toyota C-HR gets Top Safety Pick award from IIHS

Newly-available electronic driving aids earned the 2021 Toyota C-HR a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Japanese firm's smallest crossover missed out on a Plus rating, however.

Toyota made its Safety Sense 2.5 suite of electronic driving aids standard across the full C-HR range for 2021. It bundles a long list of features including a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, road sign assist, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping technology, and automatic high beams. It's the first feature (called PCS w/PD in alphabet-soupese) that made a difference from the Institute's standpoint. It allowed the C-HR to avoid collisions at 12 and 25 mph, and it either avoided or at least slowed down for a dummy in three separate tests.

2021 Toyota Camry Review | Price, Specs, Features And Photos

2021 Toyota Camry Review | Price, specs, features and photos

The 2021 Toyota Camry is not the drab beige appliance you might remember. This generation set a unique tone from the very beginning with its significantly enhanced driver involvement, interior quality and overall style. Toyota has steadily been updating it, too. Last year Toyota added an all-wheel drive option as well as a high-performance Camry TRD, which is also the most affordable way to get a Camry with a V6. This year brings more trim selection for the hybrid, along with updated infotainment and safety features

Despite being fundamentally different than the Camrys that came before, the 2021 should still satisfy the sensible buying criteria that's made it a best-seller for so long: strong reliability, good resale value and high safety ratings. So, while much has changed, much has also stayed the same. That's a good thing, and even if the Honda Accord is broadly more appealing, the Hyundai Sonata more distinctive and Mazda6 more fun to drive, the diverse, well-rounded Camry lineup is a must-consider.

Toyota Rav4-based Mitsuoka Buddy Retro-styled Suv Is Sold Out

Toyota RAV4-based Mitsuoka Buddy retro-styled SUV is sold out

Vintage trucks and SUVs, as well as their follow-ups, are in hot demand right now, and crossovers rule the world's sales charts. So few will be surprised to learn that Mitsuoka's quirky Buddy is sold out until 2023. Unveiled in November 2020, it blends styling cues reminiscent of 40-year old Chevrolet models with the efficiency and reliability expected from a new Toyota.

It's not entirely popularity that led to the Buddy selling out. Mitsuoka has never dabbled in volume, and the Buddy is no exception. It will only build 50 units of the Buddy in 2021, according to Motor1, and it will manufacture 150 more in 2022. There's no word yet on how many it will make in 2023. These numbers would be a rounding error if we were talking about the standard RAV4 (about 448,000 units were sold in America alone in 2019), but the Buddy is much more than a Toyota crossover with extra bling.

2021 Toyota C-hr Is The First Gr Sport Model Offered In Australia

2021 Toyota C-HR Is The First GR Sport Model Offered In Australia

Toyota has popped its GR Sport cherry in Australia by launching the new C-HR sports-flavored small crossover. Similar to Hyundai’s new ‘N Line’ as well as a swath of German proposals in all categories such as Audi‘s ‘S Line’, GR Sport focuses on sporty aesthetics and chassis improvements without touching the powertrain.

Toyota Gr Yaris Sets Tourist Nurburgring Lap Time Of 7:56 In The Damp

Toyota GR Yaris sets tourist Nurburgring lap time of 7:56 in the damp

We've felt confident saying the Toyota GR Yaris is a cracker of a car, even if an ocean separates us from some actual seat time. That claim has been proven by a new in-car video showing just how fast it can boogie around the Nürburgring. In the footage, a stock GR Yaris is seen whipping around the famed German circuit's tourist segment in just 7 minutes and 56 seconds.

To be clear, that time is for the Bridge-to-Gantry section of the 'Ring, not the full course. Tourists are required to start and finish during a section of the final straight, cutting out about 1.1 miles from the part where many cars reach their top speed. So there's no way to compare the time to a full race or manufacturer test lap, apples-to-apples, but according to most sources a full lap would add about 20-30 seconds to the time, and anything sub 8 minutes is considered quite an accomplishment.