(First posted 6/30/2013) In the spring of 1996, my girlfriend finally graduated from college and moved up to San Francisco to live with me. She arrived with a big bonus, a 1986 Toyota Cressida! Since we ended up married and are still married I figure her cars are now also my cars.
Her grandfather Gene had purchased this car new in Southern California; when he eventually decided that the time had come for a Cadillac the Cressida was handed down to Allison. I was absolutely delighted as I had been eyeing this car for several years and was always eager to drive it whenever we had the opportunity to go somewhere with Gene. He had always been more than happy to hand over driving duties whenever I was in Orange County visiting the future in-laws and extended family, be it for a run to the liquor store or the drive to Las Vegas over a Thanksgiving break.
As I mentioned it was a 1986 model, dark blue with blue velour interior. Unfortunately no pictures seem to exist of it, so all the images here are of similar cars. Equipped as they all were with an inline 2.8l 6-cylinder engine shared with the Supra and an overdrive automatic transmission, this was a wonderful cruiser, very comfy, quiet, understated and relatively powerful. It was kind of a blend between American cruiser and German stormer. Remember, this was built before Lexus was conceived and could easily have been a Lexus, had that existed at the time. The body and interior were in excellent condition, no rust or other damage anywhere.
Gene was a prolific smoker, I recall that it was somewhat smoky before Allison got it, but somehow her dad had taken it somewhere that was able to deal with it, when she got it there was no indication or scent of smoke the whole time she had it. I still have no idea how he managed to eliminate it, but somehow he did.
Unlike the contemporary Maxima that looked somewhat similar, had a V-6 but otherwise had the same mission in the marketplace, the Cressida was rear-wheel drive, making for more interesting driving dynamics and leaving it without torque steer or the propensity to fry the front tires during a hard launch that I had experienced test driving several Maximas over the years.
The Cressida was in excellent condition with about 90,000 miles when we got it. Allison had been driving it for about a year before graduation and had used it around school as well as to visit me up North and her family down South. It was a much safer car than her previous Corolla and Suzuki Samurai with which she did the same things. As soon as she moved in this became the preferred transport for me whenever I had the opportunity to choose which car to drive. I simply loved the smooth rush of power and the way it soaked up the bumps.
The interior of these is from Toyota’s “make it square” era, where everything seems to have right angles and there is not a curve to be found anywhere, even the steering wheel hub is a rectangle instead of rounded off. The result though on the dashboard is that everything seems to fit logically into its little section of space and it looks nice and clean. The stereo with its built-in equalizer was very nice to use with excellent fidelity for a factory system back then.
The exterior to me looks very pleasant with more rectilinear styling everywhere; there is a fair bit of ornamentation but it all seems to go together well, from the chromed eggcrate grille to the integrated body-colored mudflaps and the large wheels with their semi-flush design (in 1986). The thick bodyside molding and rear mounted power antenna along with the large flush headlights and huge taillight units all looked the business as well.
It never had any issues that were the car’s fault. Once, while driving through Sacramento, we started to hear a horrific thumping with a significant vibration from the rear. After pulling over very quickly we realized that one of the tires was delaminating and the tread was flapping around and hitting the wheelwell. I simply changed it for the fullsize spare and we carried on and got the tire replaced a few days later. Allison also hit a deer with it late at night while still in college. She recalls significant damage, however I don’t recall anything serious at all. Either way it was fixed quickly and I don’t bring up the “deer incident” anymore as it just leads to an unwinnable disagreement…
The Cressida somewhat reminds me of the Japanese market Crown sedan that is still used for Taxi duty all over Japan, Hong Kong and some other nations in Asia, similar size, squared off practical styling and just oozing a quiet competence with excellent build quality that just promised intergalactic mileage potential. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say I think these are possibly pretty much the equal of the Mercedes W124 series from an engineering and longevity perspective, just they never got the same exposure worldwide.
This generation of Cressida is enjoying a bit of a renaissance on the Japanese collector car market, I saw several at the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach a few years ago, one perfectly stock in showroom condition and several with nice modifications including turbos and stick shifts transplanted from Supras. Others were full on “Bosozoku Style” with their vertical exhaust extensions that seem a bit bizarre to me but apparently is a common tuning style (in Japan). A relatively rare variant is the wagon version which I’d love to have owned. I’m not exaggerating when I say if I had the garage space and an opportunity presented itself to acquire a well-kept example I would most likely pounce on it. Maybe in a few years…
I did not get to enjoy it for too long as Allison’s grandfather had promised to buy her a car of her choice (within a certain budget limitation) upon graduation. Since she was not nearly as enamored of the car as I was at the time, within a year we sold the car and started looking for its replacement…Looking back I really should have hung on to it.
I confess I kinda have a thing for this era Cressida. I’ve always found them attractive and, having ridden in one, know them to be solid and well-made. Actually came across not one, but two, immaculate Cressidas (and possibly still owned by their original owners) in 2003-4. Seriously, both still looked showroom new. And, if I found a good one for sale for a reasonable price, I’d probably jump on it. Don’t recall ever seeing a Cressida wagon, but one of those in good condition and reasonably priced would greatly appeal to me, too.
My mom owned two Camrys around this time, an ’87 and a ’90. Just before my time, but I know she loved them (Hell she bought two of ’em!). The reliability and build quality were great.
I always did like how Toyota used “Feng-Shui Brougham” in these cars with the button-tufted velour and simulated wood accents. It looks funny combined with the motorized shoulder belts and sporty-looking console shifter. I’m not as fond of the exterior design of these Cressidas as I am of the ’87-’91 Camry, nor the ’88-’92 Cressida. Just a little too square and generic for my tastes.
Brendan, I love that term “feng-shui brougham”, I’m going to have to use that myself 🙂
Button tufted anything is right up my alley along with diamond quilted! Of course, plaid (VW) is right up there as well as far as interiors go
+1 I’m definitely stealing that one, sorry Brendan!!
I had a JDM model of one of these during one of my military tours in Japan – an ’88 Cresta – “G” model. It had the JDM 2-liter 1G engine, rather than the more desirable 2-liter twin cam unit. Had it from 1992 to 1999 – great car, never had a problem with it.
The wagon was very popular here in Japan and was continued in this body style even after the 92 model changeover – it was used primarily as a “work” car, by small merchants.
I agree with the comparison – it was very Lexus like.
The 1986 Cressida! An absolute wonder of a vehicle.
My uncle gave us his dark blue ’86 when he purchased a brand new Camry. We also obtained it during the late 90’s. As a kid I remember being awe-inspired by it, since my dad never bought cars loaded to the gills with equipment. The car seemed like a retro-future palace, especially with that digital dash. Even though it was about twelve years old when we got it, my neighbors heaped praise on it like it was a brand new car.
We were also given a white 1987 Cressida by my other uncle several years later. This one had a burgundy cloth interior however. My dad took it from him because he was looking for my first car, but the white Cressida (and the blue one) were developing serious oil burning issues, and alas, they had to go. That’s how I ended up with my ’89 Taurus.
But I vividly remember how these cars handled. Completely rock solid, and that smooth V-6 was quite satisfying. It’s seriously been years since I’ve seen this generation. For some reason the last generation Cressida is somewhat visible around here, which is a bit perplexing. It could be due to the fact that our local Toyota dealer opened in 1992 or 1993.
I thought these cars had an inline, STRAIGHT 6 cylinder engine, not a V-6? If it was an inline 6 cylinder that would underscore the smooth and satisfying comment.
Edward,
Cressidas always came with inline-6 engines, from the beginning of the first generation (1978) until the end (1992).
My mom’s best friend had an ’85 and that thing would go! She bought it because of my dad, who had had great luck with his ’78 Celica (another great car).
Back in the day my boss had I think an ’87.
He used to revel in driving it quickly in reverse and telling me that his car was so advanced the digital speedometer even displayed while going backwards. I was terrified, not only by his speed going backwards in an underground parking garage – but that he was also looking forward at the speedometer.
If I recall correctly the wagon variant had a trick rear dual wiper system.
As well, wasn’t that inline six a derivative of the motor Toyota bought from Chevrolet?
Yup, twin wipers:
I always liked the MX73 Cressida – they’re one of the few cars I remember (as a 10/11 year old at the time) being released. They always struck me as very nice looking, with a quiet elegance to the design, and a very nice evolution of the preceding MX63. They were popular when new here in New Zealand, and we got 2-litre and 2.8-litre straight-6 variants in GLi and GLXi spec. The 2.8 was auto-only, but from memory the 2-litre could be had with a manual trans. And with our oft-mentioned sea of used JDM imports, we’ve also received virtually every variant Toyota ever made of the Cressida and its Mark II/Cresta/Chaser siblings. As well as the sedan and wagon, Toyota also made a hardtop version. It still had pillars, but they were disguised, and the door glass was frameless. I think most were Chaser-badged, but the one pictured below was sold new in Finland badged as a Cressida hardtop, and has a Cressida ‘MX’ VIN. An interesting looking car, but not nearly as elegant as the regular sedan.
Sorry to say but that car is bought from Saudi-Arabia not new from Finland, Finland only had normal sedan with 2 liter gasoline and diesel versions and wagon models. But still it is -85 MX73 hardtop with Cressida badge on boot.
Another hardtop, different front clip on this one, and a very bored looking driver lol!
‘The interior of these is from Toyota’s “make it square” era…’
I wish this era would come back, at least on the inside. I hate the no-parallel-lines look of recent interiors. Right angles are architectural and soothing. I am on board with the “new cars are better” thread on another post, but why the static inside of a car needs to look like it’s moving is beyond me.
Fun fact about the MX73 Cressida that I’ve mentioned on CC before: the taillights can be flipped upside down and fitted to the opposite side of the car! On some the indicators are on the bottom of the light by the bumper, on others they’re at the top by the bootlid. I’ve no idea why Toyota did this – maybe there were height regulations somewhere? Regardless of reason, I noticed about a decade ago, and it’s amused me ever since! The Cressida and its Mark II twin below are for sale here on trademe and show the two taillight configurations.
Interesting! I like them better with the red lens on top.
I have owned a few of these over the years. One that comes to mind is a 1986 model that I purchased about a year ago at an auction for $500.
The first surprise was that although it looked a little bit rough on the outside, everything still worked on the inside once you sat in the (wore out as an old mop) leather seats and started playing with the 60+ buttons that adorned it.
The sunroof, power windows, equalizer, locks, seatbelts, everything except for the motorized antenna was in perfect operating condition. Unfortunately the dashboard was a bit wore out from the Georgia sun and the leather seats I mentioned earlier had already cracked to the point of driving discomfort.
I ended up selling it to a couple of newspaper delivery people who were clearly on drugs. I think I sold it for around $1300 to $1500. About a month afterwards, the lady calls my business voicemail up with all kind of threats if I don’t bring her a title.
The auction had sold it ‘Bill of Sale’ only but after a brief New Jersey styled conversation with the lady, I arranged for her to pick up a replacement title at a nearby Carmax without my involvement.
I recall your article on it and tried to avoid using “your” pictures!
Feel free to use them. Everything I posted under my own manpower is free for the taking.
Nice to see a Toyota featured! I’ve always liked the clean styling of these cars. There are still a few old Cressidas here in the Seattle area, and they always seem to be well-cared for. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in full-on “beater” status. I suppose that’s a combination of Toyota durability and the care lavished on Cressidas by their target demographic.
No matter where you live, you might need to be patient if you’re looking to buy one, though. I hardly ever see one for sale. This is the type of car that people simply hang onto.
I think these things where all but erased from the roads here by 2000. My brother runs a towing company and picked up both a mk1 and a mk2 cressida last month. As most toyotas of this ere did these two where very rusty and rotten. Bothhad their inner and outer rockersill and most of the floor and dogleg missing. I wasnt a shock to me but it kinda saddened me to see them like that as I had always admired their boxy shape and wanted to own a clean one. I havent seen one on the road here since 04, that one was a very clean mk2 with alberta plates, I guess toyotas of that generation fared much better in western climes.
This generation Cressida was on my want list back in the day, but having just bought a house and having our first child in 86 there was no way it was going to happen. We never got one used either, though it would have been a hell of a lot better choice than the Volvo DL that we did get. Someone told me that the Cressida and the Volvo shared the same Aisin Warner automatic transmission, but I bet it worked a whole lot better behind that inline six than it did with the Volvo 4.
I really hated the look of the first generation Cressida, another car that could have had a role in a Godzilla movie. This generation, though, was stunning!
Believe it or not, the 4.0-powered Jeep Cherokees had this same automatic transmission as well, or nearly the same at least. I’ve never driven a Cressida (I’d love to drive one every day), but in the Jeep it was one of the smoothest and slick-shifting-est automatics I’ve ever had the pleasure of operating – and practically indestructible, too.
Speaking of JNC, one of the editors has a wagon and is apparently a big fan.
I remember reading about it right after he got it, the article is still online, great website and for at least a while they had a print mag too. Japanesenostalgiccar.com
This is another car that I never developed an appreciation for early enough. I like these a lot now. Boy were these things expensive when they were new.
Yes, marrying a car counts for ownership. 🙂 I married an 88 Honda Accord. I recall taking on a dislike for Camrys of this vintage while we had the Accord, I wonder if that experience would have colored my perception of the Cressida. However, I think that the two extra cylinders and all of the luxury equipment would have won me over.
After reading the title, I thought “this man has never driven a Cadillac”. The second paragraph made me smile, “…time…for a Cadillac”. Did you ever get to drive the Cadillac? 🙂
Oh, I did, the first time was in Las Vegas, probably the most appropriate place to do so. It was a light metallic blue late ’93 Coupe de Ville and it was magnificent! Then he asked me to drive it back to Orange County for him, magnificent!
I’m another fan of this model. Japanese stylists by this time had hit their stride, & I miss those clean ’80s lines (inside & out). My uncle had one of these.
Up until about five years ago, this was the default used car I would recommend for any friend. I found several over the years and they were truly excellent cars. Top class engineering, sound electrics and nice to drive. Not too bad on fuel, either.
It is just like a Lexus because it is a Lexus. Toyota didn’t market Lexus in Japan until relatively recently.
I never seemed to be in the right place at the right time to get one for myself, which is too bad. The last one was made in 1992, so they are now too old for me to be bothered with. That’s unless one with less than 100,000 km comes up!
I’d still take a clean one of those for a daily driver today.
These were great cars the powertrain is developed from the 4M used in the Crown and Corona MK2 of the 70s and retrofits into Hiluxes and others if you can find your way around Toyotas parts bin We have virtually every iteration of it and the diesel model uses a Hilux engine, low buck Taxi operators put huge mileages on those and the boyracers like to drift them with a repower its a car for all tastes
These have a devoted following here, and there are still quite a few around, some in superb shape. I helped a friend to make a decision to buy one new, and he never regretted it.
As a young car guy I always associated the Cressida with the Supra and Maxima with the Z/ZX. I could see how they were different than other sedans because of their “hot” 6-cylinder sports/GT engines. The BMW and Mercedes 4-doors were born with 6s and of course Audi was just 5-cylinder at the time.
The Mk 3 Cressida had a Volvo sort of vibe with its uber boxy shape and fine detailing (especially nice were the chrome cladded window frames). The long flat hood and low profile headlights separated it nicely from Camry and made it modern. The creased and folded look worked well on the Supra too and both cars have a cool vintage look today, something I can’t really say about the Cressida generations before or after this one.
The drive was more compact LTD than Japanese 530i. These weren’t very fast but the engine and tranny were smooth. For some reason I remember the A/C working particularly well. I still remember the sound that the kick-down switch made under the accelerator pedal. Little things like that would always remind you it was a Toyota.
This is my favorite generation of Cressida and I really like it in black (don’t remember seeing one before). Surprised those are 4-bolt wheels not 5. I guess that came later when the Cressida and Camry became more separated platform-wise.
For some reason, my father bought one of these new and had bad luck. It was light blue metallic, dont remember the exact year. He was so satisfied with his first Toyota, a 1980 Supra, that the Cressida was an obvious choice. The problem was with the then new electronically controlled overdrive automatic. The Supra had a conventional three speed automatic and separate electric overdrive, very old school.
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, had apparently neglected to train dealer mechanics on the new transmission. The lockup torque converter wouldn’t unlock and stalled the engine. The dealer had dropped the pan so many times, failing to fix it, that it leaked ATF all over the driveway.
My friend’s dad bought one of these new. I remember it was their first Japanese car. After various suburbans and an amc eagle, he was hooked.
When I was in school, one of the maintenance guys had a stick-shift Cressida! It’s the only one I’ve ever seen. Wish I could find one today.
Here y’go: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/mark/auction-606258324.htm Mind you, it’s here in New Zealand, is a turbo-diesel (wound up to 12 psi!), and is the Cressida’s ‘Mark II’ twin, so probably not quite what you had in mind!
Hey, that’s my car! (The blue one, forth pic from the top.) Still runs smooth like butter.
Replacement KYB shocks/strut cartridges; polyurethane swaybar bushings turned the floaty ride to smooth and controlled.
A good friend has one of these, burgundy on burgundy (people hate it i never knew why). Was bought off some stoner surf girl and was kept in very good condition. Fun little car, fast, comfy (even for people 6ft) but the seat belts are annoying. Never thought id see a dohc 6 engine haha perfect for canyon corners, don’t worry its well taken care of and has its fun up in smoke daily. Toyota did great with this gen
In 1988 or so my father replaced his excellent ’78 Caprice with a substantially inferior ’84 Caprice. In retrospect he’d’ve done better with a Cressida, but Japanese cars just weren’t on our family’s radar at that time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In Australia we initially received the single cam 2.8 six, and with the introduction lead free fuel in 1985, we were blessed with the twin cam version. 1985 was a bit of a watershed as we received several Toyotas with twin cam engines for the very first time. That and the clean crisp styling (oh how the worm has turned) was a golden age of sorts, especially when one sees the appliances that Toyota is offering now.
We used to joke that the Cressida existed so Toyota USA execs had a decent company car to drive. They were a low volume seller in the Toyota biz, but had a devoted following.
Ah — the “good old days” of what I call rational styling. Will we ever see it again ? A few makes, mostly up-market, hang on to it, though MB seems to have given up — mostly.
The rectangle is the rational design form in that it echoes the way man moves, and thus builds, on a planet with gravity. And it nests with itself logically and compactly. Streamlining necessitates some other forms — but is irrelevant to auto interiors, for instance. And streamlining can be accomplished with straight lines, as exemplified by the handsome Cressida.
Well said. And I very much agree. That is such a clean, handsome design. Superior looking to anything Toyota puts out today. Oh, for the good old days.
Very clean styling, reminds me of a smaller updated to 1986 1963-64 Rambler Classic. I like the squared off styling which is the most efficient use of space. I always liked this generation of Cressida.
I have always preferred boxes on wheels. I make some exceptions (’60-’62 Valiant/Lancer, e.g.), but.
A MAJOR benefit of this design (thin A pillars, etc.) is the superior outward visibility. Never an issue seeing traffic around you.
Some of these treasured old classics do exist. Mine is parked in my carport. A 1985 in silver brown with era appropriate after market rims, and refurbished stock rims for more stately occasions. Drives like new because, well, it practically is new. Only 129.000 gentle kilometres. Obtained after a 93-yr-old decided to hang up her license. So much fun to drive and so distinct in a sea of conformity. Plus, it’s reliable as all get out. Toyota’s moonshot!
I saw one this weekend and this post has just reminded me their numbers seem to have thinned quite dramatically in recent years, they were and still are really good cars.
No one else mentioned it, so I have to ask:
What is with having that black rubbing strip so far up on the sides of the car? It doesn’t match up with the strips on the bumpers, and it looks too high up to be very good as protection against dents and dings. Perhaps this car would have looked better without them?
Someone on a central Florida Craigslist has advertised one of these in “decent looking” shape….with a 5 speed manual transmission conversion. I haven’t seen it lately but suspect the seller still has it.
Strange how the contemporary Maxima used similar squared-off styling but isn’t able to carry it off nearly as well.
My inner geek always applauds supremely sensible and well-made cars like this, especially when they are nicely styled and executed as well. Not that I’d be excited to own one, or not be a little self-conscious about displaying my geekdom to the entire world, but I still applaud it.
The one car manufactured today which reminds me of this generation of Cressida is the 2017 Kia Cadenza Premium. The base model, not the more expensive versions with the panoramic roof and 19″ wheels. It is a cushy, large’ish, conservative sedan with clean and elegant styling inside and out. Too bad the Cadenza doesn’t get much recognition, as I think it would appeal to those who would otherwise consider larger sedans.