Earlier this month I went on another trip to what, for various reasons, is rapidly becoming my favorite European country: Germany (don’t worry America you’ll always be my first and one true love). Organized by the fabulous people at Car Design Event, this was a chance for me (and sadly some other misshapen goblins from the automotive fourth estate) to get my delicate hands on some choice automobiles from various OEM heritage fleets. We asked you dear members what I should drive and because we’re customer service fourth here at The Autopian hopefully I have delivered.
Prior to the event, I was sent a list of what cars would be present. But OEMs being what they are and the logistics of keeping and maintaining a collection of their greatest hits is an unwieldy exercise at the best of times, not everything that was promised appeared. No matter, there was still plenty to sample and I didn’t have to resort to swinging my bag at anyone’s head to do so.
The actual driving sessions took place over two afternoons so time was a bit limited, but I did get to give everything I drove a proper workout over the mountain roads outside Dietzhölztal. The roads were glass smooth with great sight lines and some wicked hairpins–a far cry from the UK’s potholed and generally buggered tarmac. Perfect for driving a priceless classic on the wrong side of the road in unfamiliar territory. This is the second episode of my German adventure–there will be a couple more to follow.
The Toyota Sera
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The Japanese ‘bubble’ period didn’t just give us expensively engineered mid-engined supercars and decadent luxury coupes at the top. It birthed some fascinating cars at the bottom as well, such as the Nissan Pike cars and this, the Toyota Sera. Originally appearing at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show as the AXV-II show car, it was close enough to being ready to build that some journalists were allowed to drive it. It emerged in 1990 as the Sera, according to Toyota the name was meant ‘to signify a dream-like car that takes us into the future’. If those dreams involve being a goldfish swimming in a bowl, here is your car.
Apart from the sheer amount of glass, the other striking thing about the Sera is the gull-wing doors which are hinged at the top of the windshield and the base of the A-pillar. This isn’t just typical Japanese whimsy (although there is plenty of that as we’ll see) – the thinking was they would require less space to open fully than conventional hinged doors. And they did, needing only 17” (43cm) of clearance. It was such a good idea Gordon Murray nicked it for the McLaren F1. There’s another, slightly more hidden advance in the bodywork as well. Toyota was able to develop a new process for stamping panels more suited to lower production runs. From the Toyota UK magazine:
“Interestingly, the new Toyota Sera delivered more than just a future aesthetic; it also introduced new techniques to the Toyota Production System. The front wing, for example, was produced using a new flexible press system specifically designed for low-volume manufacturing. The technology allowed Toyota to reduce the five conventional panel forming processes – drawing, trimming, bending, cam trimming and cam flanging – to just three. Amazingly, this revolutionary simplification of the press manufacturing process yielded body panels of superior quality and accuracy.”
In the late eighties and early nineties the Japanese were swimming in billions of yen, so domestic OEMs could do this sort of thing–smaller production runs to try out new production processes or technological advances. These days cars as a product are much more mature and the gains marginal so it’s much harder to justify going off on this sort of design tangent but it does still occasionally happen with cars like the Plymouth Prowler and BMW i3 for example.
Because you’re all horrible people, a number of you including Alekk98, Buzz, RKranc, and Carbon Fiber Sasquatch wanted to know if I could fold my supermodel 6’2” frame into a space helmet bolted on the frame of a Toyota Starlet and close the door without braining myself. I’m glad to report the science checks out and my noggin and more importantly my hair remained unscathed. It’s not even that much of a stretch to reach up to the door handles either, although I do have arms like Mr. Tickle.
I’m only slightly ashamed to admit I almost jumped in the passenger side once I had the keys, as I’d just driven the Integrale and they’re are all LHD (even the UK market ones). But of course, I hadn’t realized the Sera was JDM only, so it was RHD. I’ve driven plenty of LHD cars in the UK before, but never a RHD car in a LHD country. Confused? So was I for a second there. Compounding the issue, flicking the left stalk to signal as I pulled out of the back of the museum onto the main road through Dietzhölztal the fucking wipers came on because in true Japanese car fashion the stalk functions are reversed.
The good thing about all that glass is the visibility, which is outstanding. Now I know how Neil Armstrong felt. The bad thing is the heat. It was a warm afternoon – about 22°C (72°F) but I was slowly being brought to a gentle simmer. Luckily Toyota recognized this potential issue and fitted all Seras with a fearsome AC system as standard. The only real options were a choice of transmission – either 4-speed auto or 5-speed manual, and the Super Live Sound System. This consists of additional tweeters in little pods on the top of the dashboard, a sub in a plastic box on the right hand side of the trunk, and a sort of boombox sound bar on the rear parcel shelf. It has two modes, displayed in yellow text behind a clear panel on the back of the unit – CASUAL MODE and FUNKY MODE, which changes the direction the speakers fire in for a different acoustic effect. I couldn’t get the stereo to tune in so I wasn’t able to try it out. German music stations only have The Scorpions and David Hasselhoff on permanent rotation anyway so this was a blessing in disguise. Optioning this prime slice of Japanese hi-fi obsession adds 20kg (45lbs) to the overall 930kg (2000lbs) curb weight.
Powering the Sera is Toyota’s 5E engine, a wasted spark design. What this means in practice is the spark plugs are wired in pairs, so as one fires at the top of the compression stroke, its partner also fires on the exhaust stroke. This reduces the number of ignition components for reliability. But this is a motor explicitly designed and tuned for economy rather than thrills or performance. Power from the 1.5 four is quoted at 104bhp, and torque at 97 lb-ft. It will probably last a million miles but I think my hair dryer makes more power than that and is arguably more useful. There was a mystery red button with Japanese text placed by the shifter that was presumably gearbox function related, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it actually did.
It doesn’t matter, because this is not a fast car, especially when equipped with the four-speed auto. I mean it moves, just about. On the gentle hills beyond the center of town it really needed a good clogging to maintain any sort of progress. I actually thought it was doing quite well when I saw the speedo registering 80, before I realized that was in km/h not mph. Nonetheless, when you do wind it up there is some fun to be found here. Cornering is surprisingly flat and fluent but the steering is a disaster. It’s way too light and tells you nothing, having all the feel and resistance of a Super Sprint arcade cabinet (ask your parents). I was able to one finger steer navigating the back entrance to the museum. For all the quirkiness inside and out the Sera betrays its Starlet undercarriage once you’re on the move.
The fervor for JDM cars mostly passed me by. My automotive tastes were well established before successive editions of Gran Turismo spawned a generation of Japanese car weeboos with anime profile pictures who worship at the altar of cars like the Sera. While it’s not a razor-sharp Touge weapon, the Sera is a real snapshot into a particularly wonderful period in the history of Japanese automobile manufacturing we’re unlikely to see again. If you broke any of that glass you’d still be finding fragments five years later and I shudder to think what it would cost to replace, even if it’s available. It is not objectively a good car to drive. But it is a gleefully, delightfully odd one – from the quaint font on the dials to the batshit doors. I bet with a few choice mods and a manual gearbox it could be turned into a really fun one.
“My automotive tastes were well established before successive editions of Gran Turismo spawned a generation of Japanese car weeboos”
Same here but I was obsessed with Toyota having seen the MK1 MR2 about so the JDM seed had already been planted.
Also I petition for “batshit doors” to become an official umbrella term!
My best friend had a second gen Celica liftback, so we were aware the first gen MR2 was a pretty nifty thing. But they were just cool cars. The fact they were Japanese had nothing to do with it.
You are absolutely right there, I loved Ferrari and as far as I was concerned there was only one other car that looked a bit like a Ferrari that I saw locally and it was a MK1 MR2 which was a cool car but there wasn’t a cult around anything and everything Japanese, just a few car nerds who had discovered a few cool cars.
Incredible packaging exercise. I always loved the neatness of the outside box, and I think it served its purpose well – it’s definitely an exterior design study; should they have tightened the steering at 15,000 production run? I’m sure they had a million other projects to chase – grateful they put the effort into this.
it sounds simple, but altering the rack or geometry now means it’s different parts – adding line complexity, tooling costs, calibration and testing costs: all sorts of long tail things. And 15k isn’t a huge number for a company like Toyota. Someone somewhere else in the comments had a great insight – this car was meant to look good and sound good while you’re stuck in Tokyo traffic. The market this car was aimed at wasn’t necessarily looking the last word in handling – more a comfortable, easy to drive and economical car.
Yup, agreed. Glad they did as much as they did, and I don’t mind the less-than-noble mechanicals.
The Sera community call them ‘Butterfly’ doors, not gullwing doors.
Gullwing doors are traditionally at the highest-ish point of the roof as per Mercedes 300SL, Autozam AZ-1 etc.
Someone already corrected me on Twitter but winding up fandoms brings a warm glow to my cold heart.
I have always been in love with that one.
Unfortunately for a very long time my only impressions of it were its presence in the quite nuts Ryuhei Kitamura’s movie Versus.
In which said Sera’s interior was all splashed in blood and gore.
And in which btw it looked quite large, for some reason.
The front is surprisingly roomy. The rear is a lot more cozy.
Honestly i feel with some suspension/steering upgrades, the manual box and a 4age or turbo starlet swap and it could be a real thrasher at autocross days.
I wonder if the CoG is high because of all that glass.
First saw one of these on Regular Car Reviews. IIRC Regular himself owned one.
Three Adrian articles in one week! I’m in Autopia!
That Sound System cracks me up. I am truly curious if it sounds any good. Funky mode reminds me a bit of the old Bose 901’s, where the drivers are facing the wall and reflect sound off the walls to your ears. The Bose were kinda shit, but unique. The Super Live Sound bounces that sound off a glass dome so it sounds more immersive. Way ahead of its time, but probably the wrong implementation for car audio. It is basically a 5.1 system like that you would use on a home theater system, but 10 years early. Here are the specs for the system:
https://www.denso-ten.com/business/technicaljournal/pdf/4-1E.pdf
I can appreciate the Sera as a modern Renault Floride. A striking body on humble mechanicals to show off in. Personally I’d rather spend my yen on an Autozam AZ-1 which is a mid engine supercar, hit with a shrink ray.
The Sera really is a one trick pony – those doors. On a visit to the Toyota Museum in Nagoya, I found a Sera parked next to a 2000GT and one of the Bond 2000GT convertibles. Even with the doors open, instant disappearing act!
As far as JDM cars go, these are fairly attainable on the West Coast, and I’ve always thought it would be an ideal Radwood resto-mod. Either put a spicier 2ZZ drivetrain in or join the dark side and K-swap it.
Definitely needs a better motor. What you would do to sharpen the steering I don’t know. But i would worry about unique body parts, particularly the glass. They only built 15,000 of these.
Powering the Sera is Toyota’s 5E engine, a wasted spark design.
Known to every old school inline 4 motorcycle mechanic, and before coil on plug, a great design IMO.
I’m still shocked a sound system added 45Kg.. Especially since most stock audio of the era was filled with empty space and promises, this one seems to be full of tungsten and bricks?
It was pretty sophisticated. They partnered with Linn to design it IIRC. The linked article on Jalopnik goes into quite a bit of detail about it.
Oh, I’ll go back and look
What’s the black box on the passenger side where it looks like it should be a middle air vent?
Classic rally trip meter
https://www.brantz.co.uk/retrotrip
I did film it for the Instagram reel but I couldn’t figure it out.
I always thought these were very sharp lookers, but not something I’d be particularly interested in. We have quite a few imported to the PNW.
Much more interesting than the Paseo we got in North America.
Those things are Valium on wheels.
I’ll defend the Paseo, it was unkillable. I had one for about 190k miles, delivered countless pizzas and drove all over the country in it. I even drove it in deep enough water to hit the windows and it just wouldn’t stop running. IT never asked for more than basic maintenence. I gave it to my brother who put another 100k miles on it before selling it.
My aunt bought one new and came upon me on an empty highway wanting to race* and she couldn’t pull away from my ’84 Subaru wagon with an automatic. Supposedly had an extra 27 hp, but they must have meant those mini horses. She got rid of it maybe a few months later and I’m pretty sure that was a major reason. I doubt she owned it longer than 8 months. She replaced it with a turbo Audi that ended up dying from a broken crankshaft.
*Only in the academic sense as we were possibly going fast enough to go “back in time”, but not much more.
Misshapen goblins of the automotive fourth estate do get around. On a crop/color tour last week three new Escalades in grey scale and running nose to tail were seen, all bearing manufacturer tags. The odd part being that they all pulled off US-23 and parked at a residence local to me. The only car mag hack known to have reason to be in the area is Jean Lindamood/Jennings, but she can’t drive anymore.
I always loved her writing, I miss it… 🙁 Is she sick?
Time has taken it’s toll. I’m told dementia has been diagnosed.
Sorry to hear that, great lady.
Whhaaaaaat? OMG I hope not! I randomly sat next to her some years ago at a British pub-themed bar at the Amelia Island Concours in 2018 or so. I overheard her seriously interesting conversation, became curious and asked her name. When she said who she was I gave her a hug and said her prose was some of my favorite when I was a Car & Driver subscribing teen back in the day.
The loss of our cognitive skills is a dreadful thing!
Shit, I hope that’s not true. I loved her writing.
Jean married a local fellow who grew up in my town. I got the news from his brother last week.
Damn, that’s very sad to read.
A cool looking car with Toyota reliability! What’s not to like?
It’s not particularly brilliant to drive, especially with the auto.
The Toyota driving experience.
“German music stations only have The Scorpions and David Hasselhoff on permanent rotation anyway so this was a blessing in disguise.”
Weird. I’d have thought if any country had Goth saturating the airwaves it’d be Germany.
Maybe you didn’t go east enough?
Probably the biggest goth scene in Europe.
Living outside Tokyo in the early 90’s – these were not common cars.
But there are some interesting takes here that when you take into account the conditions in Japan – the decisions make more sense.
The Kanto Plain – where Tokyo and the design center is located – was almost perpetually overcast and incredibly humid due to weather and smog (the clearest the sky would be was right after one of the frequent rainstorms). So a bubble roof was in many ways preferable to a convertible or T-Tops.
Then of course there was Tokyo traffic – which made handling and acceleration for most cars largely irrelevant. (the Sera was far more powerful than the 1980 Prelude XE I was piloting at the time) Ease of parking, braking, exterior styling, interior comfort and a bangin’ stereo was far more important for the Sera market.
If you wanted a more “normal” Toyota low-end personal coupe for a comparable pricepoint – You’d go to the Toyopet store instead for a Paseo.
And if you wanted better acceleration and handling – you’d move up to an MR2, Corolla Levin or Sprinter Trueno.
These cars are The English Patient of cars; beautiful to look at, so much promise and potential, but ultimately just boring to experience.
Que Sera Sera
One of these popped up for sale the last time I was car shopping. Unfortunately, it sold before I could look at it. It was the auto version, so not quite as heartbreaking as if it had the stick.
It definitely needs the manual. And at least another thirty horsepower. And a better steering rack.
Don’t sugar coat it Adrian – tell us how you really feel!
I aim to please.
That red button is probably the shift lock override button.
Someone on Instagram said that. I’m still none the wiser.
It overrides the shift lock for towing without turning on the ignition.
I was going to say the same thing. My friend has a 90s Crown with the same button, and you have to press it and the button on the shifter to get the car out of park, probably due to a wonky park/neutral safety switch or something in the linkage.
Before your post, I never knew of this car’s existence. In about 10 minutes, I’m not going to remember that it did. I’m not sure whether that’s due to Alzheimer’s or your fine description, but I’ll give you the credit. Fun read.