It still feels a bit weird to write, but the obvious choice for someone who just wants a new car is a Toyota RAV4. It’s not just America’s most popular crossover, it’s America’s best-selling vehicle that isn’t a line of pickup trucks. There’s a good reason why compact crossovers are everywhere, and that’s because they’re a great mix of size, practicality and efficiency. However, while all modern compact crossovers are now five-door liftbacks, that wasn’t always the case. Even the RAV4 itself has quirky history.
Let’s flash back to 1994, when the landscape of tall vehicles that could send torque to all four wheels was vastly different than what we’re used to today. Machines as small as the Geo Tracker and as large as the Chevrolet Suburban often featured body-on-frame construction, two-speed transfer cases, and solid axles. While some manufacturers like Jeep had success with unibody construction, vehicles like the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were decidedly SUVs, and the idea of taking passenger car components and packaging them in an SUV-like form was far from a mainstream concept.
However, that’s exactly what Toyota did with the original RAV4. It took the transmission from the Celica GT-Four rally homologation special and platform components from the Corolla and Carina compact cars, and bundled them up in a package with independent suspension, an available limited-slip rear differential, and the typical small sport-ute body styles of the 1990s. While the five-door model is closest to the crossovers we’re used to now, the original RAV4 was also available as a three-door model with either a hard roof or a soft top.
Keep in mind, the RAV4 was released a year before the Honda CR-V, so it launched without immediate direct competition. That was enough to render Toyota’s small ute a revelation, because thanks to a little bit of performance car DNA, nothing else on the market was quite like it. Even once other compact crossovers appeared on the scene, the RAV4 was the athlete of the bunch, as Car And Driver wrote in a 1998 comparison test.
The RAV4’s steering is sensitive and direct, as are the brakes. There’s some roll, dive, and squat, but it never seems out of proportion. With an optional larger tire-and-wheel package ($1140), our RAV4 led the class in corÂnering grip at 0.72 g, and it took second place in braking, stopping from 70 mph in 193 feet (without anti-lock control). The Toyota was the quickest through the emerÂgency lane change at 57.9 mph, doing so with the balanced controllability of a sports coupe. Had we not been sitting up so high, we might have thought we were driving a Celica.
That last line is still the appeal of modern crossovers, car-like handling in an SUV-like form. Toyota hit upon gold, but it still kept the best for its home market. While American RAV4s featured a 120-horsepower two-liter 3S-FE four-cylinder engine, 1998-onward JDM models were available with the grey top BEAMS 3S-GE two-liter four-cylinder engine pumping out 178 horsepower at 6,600 RPM. Now that’s something that would be cool to import. Oh, and it’s also worth mentioning the RAV4 EV, an early North American-market compliance electric vehicle with a modest 85 mph top speed that was actually sold to members of the public rather than merely leased.
At this point, it was clear that Toyota found success in the RAV4 formula, so for the second-generation model, it took an evolutionary approach with more mature styling, more power, more amenities, and more weight. At the same time, the three-door model disappeared from U.S. showrooms, but that didn’t mean Toyota gave up on it.
Nope, the rest of the world got a three-door second-generation RAV4 and it kept lots of the first-generation three-door goodness. Sure, the hot BEAMS engine was no longer on the option list, but you could get it as a diesel, or with a selection of four-cylinder gasoline engines making up to 160 horsepower. You could still lock the center diff and row your own gears, and the form factor was still cute with a wheelbase of less than 90 inches. With early two-door second-generation RAV4s now eligible for importation to America, don’t be surprised if these thing start showing up in your local JDM scene.
While the third-generation RAV4 lost the option of a three-door body style, it didn’t entirely lose its weirdness. At the time of its launch in late 2005, virtually all compact crossovers had ditched side-hinged cargo doors for liftgates, but not the RAV4. It was the last mainstream model in its segment to feature a spare tire bolted to the back, but the weirder option involved deleting the spare tire and centering the licence plate to offer the look of a liftgate with the slight impracticality of a side-hinged door.
That’s strange, but not nearly as strange as Toyota building two different RAV4 variants depending on the market. In North America, Toyota saw a demand for occasional use third-row seats, so it stretched the wheelbase of its compact crossover by nearly four inches. Oh, and then it dropped in the 3.5-liter V6 from an Avalon to create one of the quickest Toyotas of the 2000s, the RAV4 V6. We’ve already done a deep dive on the six-cylinder model, but it was an absolute scorcher. We’re talking zero-to-60 mph in 6.3 seconds during Car And Driver instrumented testing, just a single tenth behind a naturally aspirated fourth-generation Supra.
The RAV4 V6 wasn’t just one of the quickest Toyotas of its day, it was also quicker than its electric counterpart. In 2010, Toyota revealed a prototype RAV4 EV that would then be developed into the 2012 RAV4 EV. With engineering assistance and components from Tesla, the result was a far more usable vehicle than the original RAV4 EV thanks to an output of 154 horsepower and a range of 113 miles. Oh how far we’ve come since then.
It took nearly a decade for the RAV4 to lose its weirdness, but that’s effectively what finally happened with the fourth-generation model, which entered production in late 2012 for the 2013 model year. The swing-out rear door, rear-mounted spare tire, and available V6 were gone, and the result was sales record after sales record. Still, the RAV4 stands as proof that even the most popular, orthodox cars on the road can still have interesting history, although I’m holding out a little hope that the sixth-generation model being revealed later today adds a tiny hint of weirdness back.
Top graphic credit: Toyota
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If I was forced to get a crossover, which is not at all my favorite type of car, it would be a facelifted first-gen RAV4 2-door with the soft top, tri-spoke wheels, AWD, in purple. Yes, you could get them in purple.
I still can’t get my head around why almost EVERY Crossover “SUV” has almost Zero ‘sport’ in it. The crossover form factor is bloody excilent but why can’t anybody sell one that is not just an appliance. to get a crossover that is any ‘fun’ you have to spend 45+ thousand on a German suv. Where is the honda CRV- SI? Or the Forester WRX?? Or an equinox SS ?? I know ford has the Explorer ST and its GREAT and seems to be a huge seller why can’t we get something like that in a smaller platform?
The weirdest RAV4 is the car that Toyota used as a test bed for the RAV4. May I present the 1988-1995 AE95 Corolla Alltrac 4wd wagon (Carib Sprinter in Japan). Basically the test car for the RAV4. So it wasn’t a big jump for them to put this quirky drivetrain (With a larger engine) in an SUV body.
What was weird about it:
Same push button dash mounted centre diff lock as the RAV4.
HI BOI roof and giving acres of room stadium seating in the rear.
Odd styling with pagoda roof, an almost vertical tailgate with off center plate holder and pre Volvo 850 D-pillar window level tail-lights.
Inset rear wheel track by 50mm (Rear live axel is from the tofu delivery AE86)
Super low first gear
Rear roof mounted airline locker.
Crutch vent.
Weird? No. Just narrow minded opinions of today.
i really miss the two door vehicle of yore…
I still can’t wrap my head around why 2-doors aren’t more popular. Sure, I have to occasionally choose between passengers and cargo (choice was made easier by passengers who kept spilling fuckin ice cream on my seats), but man do I appreciate having a car that is a foot shorter and 300lbs lighter than its 4-door variant.
I never really appreciated the first generation RAV4 when they were new, but I have grown to appreciate them (along with the first generation CR-V) in the time since. The three door RAV4 is funny yet compelling – I have seen many of them off-road, and while they can’t keep up with my Jeep TJ, they can still do far more difficult trails than they probably should be able to. Neat, quirky vehicles.
Somewhere around Fairfax, VA there’s a house I’d pass by on Shirley Gate Rd(?) that had multiple first-gen RAV4’s parked in front. Including a couple two-door models.
I snagged a couple blurry photos back then and I’ve since moved away a couple years ago so no idea if they’re still there but I hope whoever’s there is doing well and having fun.
My dad bought his 2001 RAV4 new and it’s still here and still kicking. The rear seats both tumble and come out which makes for so much potential vertical space. No flat load floor though, but it’s not a bad trade off compared to the flat-but-higher cargo areas of today.
The headroom rivaled my friend’s xB, both were cavernous. I drove that just flooring it everywhere. I don’t think I’d daily it today especially with no side airbags or VSC until the refresh but I have a soft spot for it.
There’s mods that can be done too from retrofitting the center locker from a manual first-gen to an aftermarket rear locker or an LSD from a junkyard but they’re hard to track down.
I never not smile when I spot a first gen, especially the two doors. Saw a red one in LA last month and a blue one in Vienna, VA a couple years ago. (could be the same as the above but it was at a library)
I haven’t forgotten. Did you know that 1st generation RAV4 had actual “4WD”? As in a true center differential with mechanical locking (in the manual only). It was also available with a factory optioned Torsen rear LSD. Also, the front and rear seats were design to fold down into a lumpy bed that was great for naps (and terrible to sleep).
Same centre diff lock and derivative transmissions as the 1988-1995 Corolla All trac 4wd Wagon and Sedan although with the Corolla you could also lock the auto centre diff.
It’s kinda hard looking at how cool and quirky the original was next to the bland pile of boring the new one is.
“Keep in mind, the RAV4 was released a year before the Honda CR-V, so it launched without immediate direct competition.”
The Suzuki Sidekick/Vitara would like to have a word about that…
would the word be “frame”?
That word might be used in the context of ‘being a better offroader’ at the same or lower cost.
And regardless of ‘frame’, the early RAV4 and Sidekick were in the same segment from a price, size and type-of-vehicle point of view.
Its not that small SUV’s didn’t exist before the RAV4, but by its nature it was in a class of one when it landed. It was a very different kind of vehicle to an established kind (SUV) that happened to be in the same size class. Customers surely cross-shopped them, but the RAV4 was truly a new kind of thing.
I disagree that the RAV4 was in a class of 1. It was in the same class as the Vitara/Sidekick in terms of size and cost.
It’s just that prior to the RAV4, if you wanted a small off road vehicle, the choices were more limited… it was either a variant of the Vitara, a Jeep YJ/Wrangler and maybe the Suzuki Samurai/SJ.
Oh and Daihatsu I think made something in that segment as well.
Oh and the Lada Niva if you wanted something REALLY CHEAP and basic.
Just because the 1st gen RAV4 was on a unibody Corolla chassis doesn’t make it “totally unique and like nothing else”
Toyota was just using what it had. For something that small, what it had was the Corolla platform and the AWD system used in the Celica.
Well, lets put it this way – The Vitara, small Jeep Wrangler, the Samurai, The rocky, the Niva, x90, etc, etc…are all gone. Meanwhile the RAV4 is the best selling single model in America. (I don’t count that B.S. “F-series” claim that includes HD models)
The crossover won, and the RAV4 in particular. There were other similarly sized, similarly priced vehicles it sold alongside it, but it supplanted them.
And yes, the formula of car based crossover suv did make it totally unique; Unless you can think of another vehicle? And no, the Cherokee doesn’t count. One because it still had a frame integrated and two because it was never car based.
Combining AWD sedans and wagons and the body style of an SUV was a unique combination and it obsoleted its competitors. Parts bin? Sure, what isn’t? Why would they NOT use proven hardware – especially 90’s Toyota. No, the RAV4 was a new kind of thing and the first of its kind and that thing has completely dominated the market. It WAS the crossover.
IMO, the very first gen of both the Honda CRV and Toyota Rav4 are far and away the best/most interesting ones. They’re both big, heavy, generic crossovers now. Sure, they’re comfortable and probably fairly reliable (compared to their peers) but they’re also both kind of pricey (yes, I know everything is expensive now… doesn’t mean I have to like it!) and frankly, boring.
I’ve seen quite a few videos of first-gen Rav4s (mostly four-doors, which I prefer to the two-door, since those look a bit like a leprechaun drives it) and if you want basic, cheap, easy-to-service, and fairly bullet-proof transportation in a light/small 4WD, it seems pretty awesome. And that early CRV, with the external hinges on the back, they’re a-friggin-dorable! It’s a shame the only clean copies of these cars left are gonna show up on Bring A Trailer or Cars N Bids for top dollar.
All the Rav 4 generations are great although the first were a little weird.If you want weird try the Suzuki X-90.
I knew a weirdo with a 1st gen RAV4 in college and rode in it once. The one thing I remember is that the front seats had no arm rests. At all. Not even on the door. How the fuck cheap could they get?
I almost leased the Rav4 EV when it was new (ended up going with the Leaf since it was a ton cheaper), and almost bought one a few years ago for a local runabout car until I decided to buy a convertible.
They’re delightfully weird inside. The gauge cluster and other interior display bits were replaced with LCD screens with some pretty fun graphics and animations. The Rav4 EV is popular on the used market and holds it’s value better than other non-Tesla EVs of similar vintage. They move fast when on the market.
I do think the 2nd gen Rav4 is a high point on the automotive fitness landscape – “I want a Toyota Corolla with a shitload of storage space and also AWD.” It ran forever, was absolutely unobjectionable to drive, fit in a normal parking spot, could fit a family of 4 and all of their worldly possessions, and you could take it to a campsite or ski area. If you’ve got a soul, it’s not the car for you, but if you are looking for “Car, the Appliance”, the Rav4 got there first, and I daresay did it better than most of the people who’ve tried to follow it.
Toyota already had the car to do that. May I present the 1988-1995 Corolla Alltrac 4wd wagon. Basically the test car for the RAV4. So it wasn’t a big jump for them to put this quirky drivetrain (With a larger engine) in an SUV body.
Its interesting about appliance cars. Some people think that ‘boring cars are for boring people’ however what reliable cars do is allow interesting people to go and and do interesting things when they want. Buying an interesting car does not make someone necessarily interesting.
USC’s Environmental Sciences campus on Catalina Island still uses a small number of late 90’s RAV4-EVs. Apparently when they break down they have to ship them to the mainland and there’s a one guy who knows how to work on them.
“The Toyota RAV4 Used To Be Way Weirder Than You Remember”
Cooler you mean!
While modern e-CVTs are the most efficient drivetrains known to man, aesthetically it has just been downhill all the way since 1994, and the pictures prove it.
Every first Gen Rav4 I’ve ever seen has an 1″ airgap between the body panels and the plastic siding. Well, around 1″ thick, it varies based on how far north the vehicle lives. But even cars in completely non-Salt climates like Southern Georgia have the plastic bits not connected to the body because the body rotted out above the plastic.
The first generation RAV 4 two-door was a very small vehicle, even compared to other vehicles of its time. I actually thought it was a two seater when I first saw one. The two door had odd proportions and looked liked it had been squished from behind. The longer roof on the 4-door evened out the proportions and made it look less odd. Knew a number of people who owned them and they all loved them.
Even though we never got the BEAMS, a 3S-GTE swap should be easy enough 😉
We need more weird Toyotas.