This is the 1997 Toyota Regius.
You have probably never heard of this, because they never sold this in North America. It’s only (mostly) available in Japan, and often exported to places like Hong Kong (where I grew up) as a used, reasonably-priced, and ultra-practical family hauler.
Its chassis is based on a van. It has a 2.7 litre inline 4, making… something horsepower because honestly who the hell cares. It’s got no manual gearbox, it rides higher than Snoop Dogg, and it will probably topple over if you go over 30 km/h in a corner.
On paper, I should hate this car.
And yet, it’s one of my all-time favourites.
On paper, I should hate this car.
And yet, it’s one of my all-time favourites.
We got this van back around 2002, mostly because we had a lot of crap to haul with the family business. In the next 20 years, the Regius handled everything we’ve thrown at it — whether it be dogs, 30+ boxes of commercial goods, grannies, relatives, school runs, three bratty kids, plus two of their offsprings, and more. It’s done it while providing us with supreme comfort and space, and it’s done it for over 350,000 km without any major mechanical issues, in true Toyota fashion. It certainly wasn’t a BMW or a Porsche, but looking back now, I would love nothing more than being able to hold the keys in my hand and take it out for a drive — it is honest and doesn’t try to do anything that it’s not supposed to be, a trait that most modern cars can learn from these days.
I love this car so much that I actually considered my first time driving it to be one of my all-time motoring highlights.
I love this car so much that I actually considered my first time driving it to be one of my all-time motoring highlights.
Alas, with my dad getting close to retirement, he has (rightfully) decided that he wanted a new car, so this trusty workhorse officially left my family a month ago.
Truth be told, I am a bit sad that I wasn’t able to import this over to Canada, but learning that it was actually exported to a different country and be enjoyed by somebody else again, it gives me some comfort knowing that it’ll be able to continue doing what it does best for years to come.
Toyota, thanks for making this brilliant, brilliant van. Hopefully I’ll get to drive one again some day.
No comments:
Post a Comment