Old Previa?

Please. If it doesn't have a prop shaft at BOTH ends of the engine, an engine in the middle, possibly a supercharger, a buck rogers instrument panel, sparkplug access under the middle row, and room for 7 quarts of oil in the crankcase (under the drivers seat, of course) AND another oil resivoir under the hood, then it damn sure isn't a Previa. It's almost like it was designed on a dare.

LOL you have a Previa story to tell?

Natalie

its not a Previa...just a Toyota van (predecessor of the Previa). that's why there's no name logo other than Toyota.

Wierd ass vehicles, man. When I first started at a Toyota dealer in about

99 or '00, I had seen them around but never worked on one. The first time I had one up in the air I didn't know what the hell was going on or where anything was. It's a very "unique" design. Not only the van itself, but the fact that the engine or layout wasn't shared with anything else at the time just added to the oddness. You don't usually see a company spend all that money on R&D only to use it all on one product. And their owners are just as bizarre. I couldn't tell you the number of times I presented a Previa owner with an estimate well ove a grand, only to have them nod eagerly and ask when they can get it back. People would bring these things in with 220k on the clock and drop crazy money at the cashier booth. Strange, strange vehicles, all the way around.

": P" ...

Then what is it? They didn't sell them as "Toyota Van" right?

Natalie

"qslim" ...

Well it's fugly, but the other guy says it's not a Previa.

hmmmm

Natalie

"qslim" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

I always thought they looked cool, especially in that "atomic banana" yellow that was popular at the time.

when I check my old Bendix Brake spec book for rotor/drum min/max dimensions, the Toyota van featured in the photo is listed as Toyota Van. After 1991 it's listed as Toyota Previa. Even ALLDATA lists the earlier Toyota van as Toyota Van Wagon up to 1989, then lists the Previa in 1991.

Yeah, who wouldn't want a bright yellow rear wheel drive mid engine mini van?

*raises hand*

Natalie

Thanks

Natalie

Wickeddoll®, Take a look at this Wikipedia page. It has a photo of the van, lists it's history and even mentions the vans successor.

The first Toyota van sold in the U.S. was originally called the Van Wagon but it was too easy to confuse with the VW Vanagon so it was just called a Toyota Van. There are variations sold in other markets called the High Ace and Lite Ace. The version in your picture is actually the Cargo Van, one of the toughest vehicles I had to sell to dealers. We used to call them Cargo Cans or 2-slice toasters - look at the profile from the side. The interior only had the front seats, and the rear had all of the holes where the interior trim on a passenger van would have been attached. The van had a mid engine under the front seats (just like an MR2, Lotus, or Ferrari), and on the 4WD versions, the front driveshaft was longer than the rear one. The front seat passengers sat ahead of the front wheels, making it feel like you were riding on a diving board. The windshield washer reservoir cap was in the front dashboard, so people often put windshield washer fluid in the brake fluid reservoir. Due to the short wheelbase, it had the tightest turning radius of any Toyota - you could practically do a U-turn in your driveway. The van was designed to be maneuverable in Japan's congested city streets, but the maneuverability made it pretty unstable on the highway. The passenger version even had a mini-fridge underneath the dashboard, enough for a 6-pack, with a mini-ice cube tray.

The next generation van was the Previa, also mid-engined, but it was built on a unitized chassis instead of a body-on-frame like the previous generation. The Previa was a big leap forward in comfort and driveability, but still well behind the current generation Sienna or even a Caravan in terms of performance and user-friendliness. The Previa's biggest assets were rock-solid reliability, lots of leg and head room, and headrests for every occupant.

That's a Toyota Lite-Ace, sold here merely as the "Van" I almost bought an AWD model a couple years ago. I was looking it over and noted what good shape it was in; guess I talked the guy out of selling it...

Almost bought one new in 1988...wish I had. I could USE it!

This is a separate model in the "Ace" line. IIRC they are still sold in Japan and other parts of the world.

"Ray O" ...

Ah, thanks Ray - I knew you'd have the answers!

Wikipedia is pretty neat, um, :-P, but it's just not totally reliable, since I myself have uploaded to it. LOL

Natalie

Well, that one is clearly from the 80s, if you go by the grill.

Natalie

Any time!

Looks like what we'd call a Lite-ace or Town-Ace here in Australia. Been around since the 1980's. The headlights set up is more like the later

1980's models that came with the 4Y motors.

You could specify if you wanted glass all along the sides or not as these were basically converted commercial vehicles for carrying people.

Cheers

H