Tercel. Echo. Yaris.
When the history of great cars is written, these models will likely not be anywhere near the short list.
Remember the legendary Toyota Tercel? Sorry, trick question—there was no legendary Toyota Tercel. Between 1980 and 2000 five generations of tiny Toyotas came and went, leaving nary a trace in car guy lore. Toyota followed up the Tercel with the Echo. The new car was memorable…for ridiculous Gen Y marketing, an ugly exterior, a cheap interior, bobbly handling, and a harsh ride. All but admitting failure, Toyota not only let the Echo die on the vine as a “special order only” car but, taking a page from the GM playbook, euthanized the nameplate as well. A Yaris successor succeeded in that it continued the Tercel tradition of utter unmemorability. Emboldened by this success, Toyota has not only retained the Yaris nameplate for a second generation, but is pitching an SE variant at people who actually like to drive. Will we remember this one, and for the right reasons?
Recent Comments
VenomV12 - I like it and am considering it, would prefer the hardtop though, but I can tell you with certainty, if I did get one I would 99.99999% for sure lease it. Ditto for...
VenomV12 - My mom had the same 626, cool car. My dad had a 929 Limited that had all sorts of cool stuff including an upright cassette deck with an EQ like a home stereo. I have...
steveg35 - Lutz is a blowhard. Crashed his aircraft by forgetting to put the gear down. His buddy Eaton sold out Chrysler to M-B for a big payday. Car...
Ion - A European Mustang brought us the foxbody. After the government stopped dictating what headlights you had to use I think the foxbody turned out...
steveg35 - Lutz is a blowhard. Crashed his aircraft by forgetting to put the gear down. His buddy Eaton sold out Chrysler to M-B for a big payday. Car...
VenomV12 - My dad had a 500E, to this day still one of the greatest cars we have ever owned. They still look great today also. Used to beat unsuspecting Corvettes...
Ion - I wasn’t offended by the original Subaru reference, and I’m not offended now either. However I find this really petty and...
Summicron - More than any other car I can think of, Fusions look better in real life than in photos. Stunningly so. I hate modern sedans, but Fusions are...
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Brendan McAleer - I should email him and see if I can drive it sometime. I do know a guy with a 911 Turbo 3.6 too…