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.

It was cool at the time, and back then the 190 hp v6 was considered quick. But it's no longer cool Kira, so stop living in the past!

The Lexus and Toyota Product Specialists told me that at the D.C. Auto Show when the Avalon first debuted (that was some time ago, and I don't remember their names). If it is misinformation (and it may in fact be), then it's on them, not me.

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.

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.

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.