Rare Rides: The 1993 Toyota Caldina Wagon, Featuring Four-wheel Drive and Five Sunroofs
It may look like someone blended together the wagon versions of the Toyota Corolla and the Subaru Legacy, but today’s Rare Ride is something rarely (or never) seen on North American shores. Presenting the 1993 Toyota Caldina, with Sky Canopy.
The Toyota Caldina was born of a need to simplify product offerings. Prior to 1992, Toyota offered sedan and wagon variants of its Carina and Corona models, but after the turn of the decade, much of its Japanese market lineup was redesigned and shuffled. As the cheapest of the two models, the Carina was offered only as a sedan for 1992 onward. The Corona was available in four-door sedan and five-door liftback guises in all markets where it was offered, but there was a wagon option that varied depending on market. Strictly for the Japanese domestic market, the Corona wagon vanished, replaced by a Caldina wagon with its own distinct styling. Other markets still had a Corona wagon available, but it was actually a rebadged version of the JDM Caldina.
Japanese customers had access to two different styles of Caldina: a passenger version, and a more basic cargo wagon sold as a commercial vehicle. Aside from styling and trim differences, the commercial version had a leaf spring suspension in the back, while the passenger version featured independent struts.
Various engines were offered, ranging between 1.5 and 2.2 liters in displacement. Five gasoline engines were available in the first generation, as well as three diesels. Supporting the utility mission of either version, Caldinas were available with four-wheel drive. This offering continued throughout the second generation (which debuted for 1998), and again with the third generation, which was sold from 2002 through 2007. At that time the Caldina was discontinued and replaced by the more bland Corolla-based Avensis wagon.
Today’s Rare Ride is located in Atlanta, and is a well-equipped example from 1993. A two-tone color scheme and big rally-style fog lamps are paired with the undoubtedly expensive Sky Canopy roof option. Said option raises the roof of the Caldina and replaces a lot of metal with an ovoid piece of glass. Inside, passengers are treated to multiple sky views via five different sunroof panels. The owner mentions the four-wheel drive system comes with a locking center differential for when you want to tackle more than wet leaves. Yours for $7,900.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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I believe there's a Nissan Figaro in the background of the sunroof photo. Corey could do a month's worth of rare rides just in this guy's barns.
why waste space on these old Toyotas? Who cares?