1990s Japanese car sedans info requested
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
That is 100% misinformation. The original Avalon was always going to be a Toyota 100% and was made to offer 6 person sitting and attack some Buick sales. It never was going to be a Lexus and never was on the table.
#17
Lexus Champion
#18
Lexus Fanatic
Anyhow, it's not an important point....and not worth arguing. What matters is not what the car could have been, but what it is.
The original 6-passenger seating was, of course, a front-bench seat....a rarity in a Japanese-designed sedan. It included an American-style column-shift-lever for the automatic (no manual was offered). But, as you note, it was an option, not standard....bucket seats and a console could be had if desired. I went shopping, I remember, with a friend of mine and his parents the first year the American-market Avalon came out. They had a used late-80s vintage Buick that was junk (as were many Buicks back then), and wanted something similiar but more reliable. They came home with (you guessed it) a new white bench-seat Avalon. I drove it for a few miles myself to check it out and make sure there was no problems with it. But that bench-seat option didn't last very long.....Toyota dropped it because of poor sales.
#19
Lexus Test Driver
Always loved the look of the Diamante!
I was about to get it prior to gettin my GS back in 2002.
Galant was my first car. Mitsubishi used to have some sweet great looking cars back then.
I was about to get it prior to gettin my GS back in 2002.
Galant was my first car. Mitsubishi used to have some sweet great looking cars back then.
#20
Lexus Fanatic
The last Diamante I remember looking at and test-driving felt like it was built like an older (pre-2000) Mercedes....out of granite. The doors closed with a tanklike thunk, and most of the hardware felt like it wouldn't break for the life of the car. Unfortunately, like the newer SH-AWD Acura RL's (which also feel like they were built out of granite), the American public just never really turned on to the Diamante, and it was pulled.
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1995LS400
LS - 1st and 2nd Gen (1990-2000)
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09-02-07 03:02 AM