Known for its sensible, reliable cars, Toyota is a ubiquitous presence in the U.S. Despite this extreme popularity, the thing most Americans don’t know is that the Japanese brand kept many of its most luxurious and fun cars for its home market.
In another visit to ATOM 2025, the All Toyotas of the Midwest car show, automotive expert Jim Hall walks us through some of the most interesting JDM cars that are on display. From luxury variants of the Toyota Crown to the outrageous gull-wing Toyota Sera and the plain-as-day Toyota Chaser and Mark II, there’s a lot to see and learn as Craig Cole joins the man who “Knows It All” (or so he thinks). Come along with us for this deep dive into the Japanese domestic market.
The TTAC Creators Series tells stories and amplifies creators from all corners of the car world, including culture, dealerships, collections, modified builds and more.
A transcript, cleaned up by AI and edited by a human staffer, is below.
[Image: YouTube Screenshot]
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Transcript:
“Look at that, Sarah.”
“My name’s Craig.”
“Jim.”
“No, that’s a Sera. A Toyota Sera.”
“Oh.”
“It was never sold in this country. That’s why you’ve never heard of it.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Now you do.”
“We’re back at the All Toyotas of the Midwest show at the Lexus Velodrome in Detroit. We’re checking out some of the unique Toyota models that never came to the U.S. We got plenty of Toyotas and Lexus vehicles here, but the company built a lot that never made it stateside. So, what are we looking at, Jim?”
“This is one of the most interesting ones we never got in the States. Hello, Sera!”
“Based on the doors alone, I can see why.”
“It’s more than the doors. It’s the glass. They sold about 3,000 of these a year for five years. Most people would tell you you can’t make money on that, and they’re mostly right. But Toyota used low-cost tooling and raided the parts bin for major stampings. The result was a little sporty 2+2 that became a fashion item.”
“When this was out, Nissan also had the Pike cars.”
“Right. Not an official sub-brand, but that’s what people called them. The Be-1, the Pao, the Figaro, and the S-Cargo. The designer of the S-Cargo owned a Citroën 2CV truck, and that inspired the design. Toyota wasn’t doing retro with the Sera the way Nissan was. They aimed for something more modern than anything else in their lineup. Even the Supra at the time looked conventional compared to this.”
“It must’ve been complicated to build, especially the glass.”
“Very much so. Look at the door—huge piece of curved glass. The curvature is wild. That’s why they used drop windows. You couldn’t roll a full window like that into the door. The shape simply wouldn’t allow it.”
“You mentioned a lot of parts-bin sharing. What platform did the Sera borrow from?”
“It used Tercel/Starlet drivetrains and chassis components. The floorpan was an existing one that they shortened. The idea was to use parts any Toyota dealer in Japan would already have. The car was sold exclusively through a single dealership network, and at 3,000 units a year, that made sense.”
“The surfacing is really clean.”
“It is. Simple surfaces, a subtle shoulder line, a small lower-door dip. Very classy and sophisticated—until you get to the upper half, where everything is over the top. They wanted it to look like an all-glass canopy, so the sheet metal is blacked out, the B-pillars are black, and the rear window has no visible molding. They wanted a floating glass upper.”
“Why not break up the A-pillar?”
“Masking would’ve looked terrible. They made the right call. Overall, for its time, it’s a masterpiece of surfacing. From a business standpoint, only Toyota could gamble on low-volume cars with temporary tooling.”
“Because of the slower build rate?”
“Exactly. You can maintain tooling, adjust fit, and improve quality as you go. Low-volume cars sometimes have variability, especially in plastics, but when the build rate’s slow, workers have time to correct issues. All the soft interior trim—door panels, dash—was new. The underpinnings and drivetrains were shared.”
“Very cool car. I’d never heard of the Sera.”
“They were rare even in Japan, but in Tokyo you’d see them around when they were new.”
“Okay, what’s next?”
“This is a Toyota Chaser.”
“A Chaser?”
“Yep. This one has been heavily modified. You can see the large turbo on its inline-six, which it didn’t have from the factory.”
“That is… a lot of turbo.”
“The Chaser was one of three related models—Chaser, Cresta, and Mark II—sold through different Toyota dealerships. Same basic car, different front fascias, different grilles, different hoods.”
“So, GM-level badge engineering?”
“Worse. Think Chrysler Cirrus, Dodge Stratus, Plymouth Breeze. Lots of shared sheet metal. Interiors were mostly the same except for upholstery or trim. One might have one kind of fake wood, another a different fake wood.”
“Walnut or burl.”
“Exactly. They were sold at different Toyota dealership networks. Not every dealer carried all Toyota models. Some networks had only certain cars.”
“Why?”
“That was just how Japanese car marketing worked then. And dealerships weren’t places you visited. Salespeople came to your house. It was all relationship-based.”
“Interesting.”
“The Mark II version of this was Japan’s best-selling car for over a decade. Huge range of trims and engines—1.8L four-cylinders, 2.0L four-cylinders, even 2.0L sixes depending on market. This was considered a big car in Japan.”
“It’s aged well.”
“Safe design. Not exciting, but you look at it now and think, ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’”
“What’s this four-door?”
“This is a Toyota Crown. The Crown name has been on Toyota passenger cars since the first Toyota sold in the U.S. It’s not continuous here, but in Japan they’ve always had a Crown.”
“They moved it upmarket?”
“Yes. The solution was a hardtop—no thick B-pillar, frameless door glass, lower roof. All new sheet metal. They also added vertical taillights that hinted at Cadillac styling. And the big news: they put a V8 in it.”
“A V8 Crown.”
“A Crown Majesta. Not just a Crown. Because of the lower roof, it actually has less interior space. Luxury of reduced headroom, I guess. And no, you can’t wear a crown in it.”
“The Majesta made the Crown more expressive?”
“It was the first step. Before that, the Crown was simply the bulletproof top Toyota sedan. Not to be confused with the Century, which was on another level entirely. The Crown Comfort, meanwhile, became Japan’s most common taxi for decades. They basically used the roof height they removed from this car and put it on the taxi.”
“So the taxi got the tall roof.”
“Exactly. The Majesta started the more stylized direction. Later, they introduced the Crown Athlete, and that’s where things really changed.”
[A sudden gust of wind hits.]
“Whoa, tents are blowing away. Let’s move out into the open.”
“Wish I had my metal comb. Not that I need a comb anymore.”
“Be quiet.”
[Laughter]
“That was a close call. We nearly got blown away by a hurricane…”
