Toyota Previa

[Morris Minor]

I had an early-90s flashback when I found myself parked next to a Previa last night - an old grubby beater. The rear seats had been folded down - leaving an enormous cargo space, & that's what it was being used for - hauling restaurant supplies.

Mid-engine delights that never quite had the power to pull the skin off a rice pudding (unless you had one of the later supercharged models). I remember seeing a few of them in England before I emigrated - remember talking to an owner. He loved it for everything except the very high fuel consumption.

My neighbor here in the US had one of the earlier ones from new and ran it into the ground over more than 20 years. It was reliable  - he religiously followed the maintenance schedule.

[Speed_Racer]

I had an early-90s flashback when I found myself parked next to a Previa last night - an old grubby beater. The rear seats had been folded down - leaving an enormous cargo space, & that's what it was being used for - hauling restaurant supplies.

Mid-engine delights that never quite had the power to pull the skin off a rice pudding (unless you had one of the later supercharged models). I remember seeing a few of them in England before I emigrated - remember talking to an owner. He loved it for everything except the very high fuel consumption.

My neighbor here in the US had one of the earlier ones from new and ran it into the ground over more than 20 years. It was reliable  - he religiously followed the maintenance schedule.

They were RWD and you could get them with a 5-speed. The logical upgrade when you outgrow an MR2.

[TBR]

They were RWD and you could get them with a 5-speed. The logical upgrade when you outgrow an MR2.

Was a missed opportunity when they gave it the Previa name instead of MR7

[2o6]

Weren't all minivans of that era slow as shit, though? The American vans had torque by the boatload, but I can't picture a 3.1 Lumina APV or even worse a 2.2 or 3.0 Caravan being much faster

[Laconian]

IIRC they were crazy expensive, thanks to the strong yen at the time.

[CALL_911]

I've always been fond of those things

[Madman]

Very uncommon to see a previa these days that isn't beat to shit.  The last one I recall seeing was being used by Mexican landscapers to carry all their lawn equipment.  I remember the egg shape looking quite futuristic way back when it first came out.

I also saw plenty of Previas in England about ten years ago.  Japanese import Estimas were also surprisingly popular.  The Estima was a narrower version of the Previa designed to dodge some Japanese width tax.  They were never sold outside Japan yet somehow a shitload of them ended up in the UK.

[2o6]

Especially the Estima Emina




Which sounds like Estima Enema

[ifcar]

Especially the Estima Emina




Which sounds like Estima Enema

Not to be confused with placenta previa.