Toyota invited hundreds of journalists from around the country to an absolutely absurd event in California. At the shindig are 1. The never-before-seen Toyota 4Runner. 2. The new Land Cruiser (first-ever press-drive) 3. The new Toyota Tacoma Hybrid (first-ever press-drive) — TRD Pro and Trailhunter 4. The new Toyota Camry (first-ever press-drive) 5. The new Toyota Crown Signia (also a first-ever press-drive). It is the single most important Toyota event, possibly ever, with not just a massive debut in the 4runner, but the very first opportunities to drive some hugely popular, high-volume enthusiast vehicles. Here, let me show you what it’s like.
Usually, when an exciting vehicle comes out, automakers invite a bunch of journalists, and we spend a full day driving that car and evaluating it. Toyota did something different.
Instead of a two-day event for a single car, the company organized a two-day event for five cars, four of which we can drive. Those cars include:
- The new Toyota Land Cruiser
- The new Toyota Tacoma Hybrid (including TRD Pro and Trailhunter)
- The new Toyota Camry (I’m sitting in one now as I type this)
- The new Toyota Crown Signia
On top of that, the event includes the world debut of the new Toyota 4runner.
That’s one huge debut, three huge first-drives, and one Crown Signia. Things are wild, here. There are loads of journalists, all trying to make sure they get enough content for each car.
I, in a stroke of genius, hired a secret weapon:
Hello from California, where I’m doing work for some friends pic.twitter.com/m3yeDHhaUO
— Alanis King (@alanisnking) April 8, 2024
Check out these cars we’re driving. Look at all these TRD Pros:
Here’s the off-road trail I got to drive the Trailhunter on:
Check out all these Land Cruisers:
Here’s the new Camry, an all-wheel drive fuel-sipping cruiser:
And here’s the new Crown Signia, the crossover version of the Crown:
That’s a lot of cool cars.
I’ve already seen the new 4Runner; we’ll have it on this website tonight at 10:15 eastern Time, so get ready, because it’s actually legit.
Embargoes for the other cars are as follows:
o Land Cruiser – April 16, 2024, 7:00 AM EDT
o Camry – April 18, 2024, 7:00 AM EDT
o Tacoma HEV – April 23, 2024, 7:00 AM EDT
o Crown Signia – April 25, 2024, 7:00 AM EDT
I’m writing up Land Cruiser and Taco; Alanis is on the Camry and Crown Signia.
Get ready for some reviews of some cool cars.
It’s interesting that Toyota tested the Trailhunting waters with the Tundra Trailhunter concept, and then that model seems to have fallen down a well.
GR Corolla? Aygo X? Any hints?