Toyota 60 years in the Netherlands: time for a road trip in old heroes

Rise of Toyota

With the Crown, Toyota history began.
The sedan shone a few years later in the Bond film You Only Live Twice.
The luxury four-door pursued Sean Connery in the roofless Toyota 2000GT.
The movie brought Toyota worldwide fame.
How Toyota fared afterwards, I don’t think we need to go into detail.
Thoroughly, the Japanese car brand climbed to the top.
Management books were written, many innovations were developed and successfully introduced.
Also remarkable: Toyota managed to write green figures every year.

Pearls from collection of Louwman’s Toyota World

As Europe’s oldest private importer, Louwman & Parqui is immensely proud to represent this brand.
Part of that pride is reflected in the collection of cars from Louwman’s Toyota World that we are on the road with.
Together with a group of other journalists, we are given a few gems from the collection.
Think a 1969 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, a 2018 Toyota Yaris GRMN, a Toyota Corolla GT AE86 and a 1997 Toyota Century with 5.0-liter V12 engine.
Even a Toyota Previa – an MPV with mid-engine configuration – is in attendance.

Will VI, Toyota MR2 (AW11) and Toyota Corolla (KE10)

Yet those are not the cars we drove.
During the drive, we got a taste of the Will Vi, Toyota MR2 AW11 and Toyota Corolla KE10.
The latter concerns the oldest car in the lineup, with 1968 as its year of birth.
The car is equipped with a 1,077 cc four-cylinder gasoline engine with 44 kW (60 hp).
This is also the first model of the Corolla and this model provided Toyota’s real breakthrough in Europe.
Reliable, efficient and affordable is what you can safely call this Corolla generation.
It drives wonderfully, even if we have to get used to the lack of seat belts and a right side mirror.
In this Corolla, life moves at a much more pleasant pace.
Anything but rushed, just relaxed touring.

Corolla means…

By the way, did you know that Corolla means “flower crown?
The flower crown is the collection of petals around the central part of a flower.
Worldwide, the Corolla has been the best-selling car for many years.
In 2021, an important milestone was passed: the 50 millionth Corolla was sold.

Toyota MR2 with mid-engine

Of a completely different caliber is the Toyota MR2 AW11 we drove.
This 1984 car features a 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with 91 kW (124 hp).
The original Toyota MR2 (AW11) was produced from 1984 to 1989 and was Toyota’s first two-seat mid-engine sports car.
That mid-engine provided ideal weight distribution and excellent handling, which made it popular with sports car enthusiasts.
Weighing about 950 kilograms and with a fierce 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, the MR2 delivered impressive performance despite its relatively small engine.
The MR2 won the title “Japanese Car of the Year” in 1984 and received worldwide praise for its innovative design and driving performance.
Along the way, we got several thumbs up, but most of the attention this day went to another model.

Where there is a WiLL, there is a way

That’s the WiLL Vi.
Produced from 2000 to 2001, the WiLL Vi stood out for its retro-inspired design with rounded lines, a convex rear end and a distinctive sloping rear window.
Hence, this model also attracted extensive attention from onlookers.
The WiLL Vi was part of the WiLL series and was produced in limited edition, for the Japanese market.
Hence, the steering wheel is also on the “wrong side.
Still, that doesn’t make driving this unique car any less fun.
The WiLL brand was a collaborative project between several Japanese companies, including Toyota, to create products with a young, trendy image.
Under the hood is a 1,298 cc four-cylinder gasoline engine with an output of 65 kW (89 hp).
Driving this car is a special experience.

Awesome road trip

During the road trip, we also enjoyed the lines of other Toyota and Lexus models.
Consider a 1994 Toyota Supra, you know: the Supra with legendary 3.0-liter 2JZ-GTE twin-turbo six-cylinder engine with 243 kW (330 hp).
What a beast!
The current generation GR Supra also drove along, the A90 in other words.
The Lexus LC 500h, Lexus LS 400 and Toyota Mirai (hydrogen car) were also part of the team.
It’s safe to say that Toyota and Lexus has produced a lot of great things over the past sixty years.
We are looking forward to the next sixty years.

Many thanks to Toyota Netherlands and Louwman’s Toyota World.