BACK IN TIME - We drive a showroom-fresh Toyota Cressida wagon

• Published date: 30 March 2022
• Publication title: Sowetan (Johannesburg, South Africa)

We drive a showroom-fresh Toyota Cressida wagon

We drive a showroom-fresh Toyota Cressida wagon

You’re probably not going to see a Toyota Cressida among the displays at a swanky concourse d’elegance event any time soon. Unless, of course, the one that shuttled Madiba from Victor Verster prison that fateful day is found and verified as genuine.

Even then, the appeal of the vehicle in that case would be rooted in its role during a major historical moment – not because the Cressida boasted amazing technical credentials or was built in limited numbers.

It was a mass-produced, square sedan, without an inkling of exotic pedigree, designed to transport archetypal suburban families. Ordinary as it was in its heyday, there are many devoted fans who would value a tidy Cressida of any year as superior to that of the average modern sports saloon.

You might recall not long ago that one was listed for sale at a used car dealership for over R1m. Grossly unrealistic. But the interest it generated certainly did wonders for the brand-building efforts of the seller in addition to fuelling the Cressida mystique. You would be forgiven for wondering: is the humble Toyota going to see trajectories akin to the BMW E30 or air-cooled Porsche breeds?

If that is the case then I am in the presence of rolling gold on a mild Friday morning behind the wheel of a real time-capsule example.

The odometer shows 27,272km and the condition certainly attests to this. It is a 2.4 GL station wagon from 1989, in pristine white, with grey-blue upholstery that looks as fresh as it did the day it left the Prospecton, KwaZulu-Natal factory.

Being in its presence is a huge novelty, prompting bouts of nostalgia as motoring artefacts from yesteryear tend to do.

Before we get onto the drive, we should do origins. A Wikipedia search tells us the Cressida (a title borrowed from Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida) traces its lineage back to the Corona Mark II.

The Mark II was introduced to the Japanese market in 1968, positioned below the high-end Toyota Crown and above the regular Corona, which first launched in 1957.

When the third-generation Mark II came around in 1976 it was decided that the model would be exported to other countries under the Cressida title.

In 1977 it was launched in South Africa and would remain over three iterations until the model was succeeded by the Camry in 1992.

As we know, the Camry is yet another subject of idolisation among a large group of motorists. By the time Cressida...