Japan were naturals at designing and producing small cars, so they left the higher luxury (and profit) end of the scale to the Americans and their soft ride and opulent interiors and, at the other end of the scale philosophically, the Europeans with their taut ride and full leather upholstery. As we know, however, they weren’t content to let any market segment be unchallenged.
The 4-Door Deluxe Corona sedan was discontinued for 1982, leavin the Deluxe wagon and the Luxury Edition sedan and liftback models. The Cressida, however, had some nice upgrades including optional leather seats, and a standard fully electronic 5-function trip computer: It provided a chronometer with alarm, estimated time of arrival, instantaneous fuel consumption, distance to drive on remaining fuel and a digital trip odometer.
When you combine the quality and the visual enhancements made in the Cressida, along with the changes that took place in the world since the car was introduced here in early 1978, it was obvious that the largest Toyota sold in the U.S. for 1982 need no longer paid homage to cars from Detroit.
Some may have referred to the Cressida as a Japanese Buick, but while in the old days that referred to what the Toyota wasn’t, here it refers to what the Buick should have been.
What Junkies are Saying