2011 Toyota Sienna Se on 2040-cars

Auto blog

This first-gen Toyota Celica is one mean mother

Brian Karasawa's gen-one Toyota Celica is, in a word, badass. As a long-standing fan of the marque, the doting owner has tried to both restore and improve his Celica keeping period-correct modifications in mind. The 20R/22R mashup engine is outputting roughly 185 horsepower and graced with a lot of JDM-specific parts and modifications. Clearly, the exhaust has been upgraded from stock, as clips of the orange Toyota in motion are accompanied by one hell of a nice sound.
Tastes clearly vary, and there's not as much love for the first-wave of Japanese metal as there is for similar era American-iron, but we're pleased to see these cars finally getting more time in the spotlight. Scroll down below to see why we're stoked, and consider cruising your local Craigslist for late 1970s and early 1980s Japanese coolness (before we get there first).

Toyota gives a free RAV4 to 50-millionth customer [w/video]

Not surprisingly, the 50-millionth Toyota product sold in the US was a Camry, but Toyota had a big surprise in store for Michael Dee, the buyer of said milestone vehicle. Toyota group vice president Bill Fay showed up at Dee's house to not only personally thank him for the purchase, but also completely paid off that brand new Camry, presenting the owner with a clear title.
But that wasn't all. As you can tell from the image above, Fay had one more trick up his sleeve. The group VP brought along a brand new 2013 Toyota RAV4, which was also presented to Dee in appreciation. The best part is that Dee's genuine amazement was all caught on video, which is posted below.

A new Toyota MR2? We want to believe

In the wake of a busy Geneva auto show, the rumor mill is churning, and the latest grist involves one of the most beloved Toyota sports cars of all time. EVO reports that Tetsuya Tada, the chief of the Scion FR-S/Toyota 86 project and a hard-liner about sportscar priorities (light and nimble, but with modest horsepower), wants a third vehicle for Toyota's nascent sporty lineup. Currently, we know there's a Supra-like vehicle in the works, being co-developed with BMW, and the 86 is sticking around. Tada said he'd like a third sportscar to compliment the two we know about, and that he wants it soon. A quick bit of history: Toyota's classic sporty lineup had three components. The most visible was the Supra, whose power and prestige grew as the car evolved from a cushy personal tourer to a high-horsepower, high-technology icon. The Celica was its Clark Kent, more mild mannered but also more accessible and affordable. The third was the MR2, a mid-engined go-kart that lasted for three distinct generations. Each had its charms, and all have their fans. When Tada says that he wants three sportscars in the lineup, we already know about the Supra successor, and the 86 is already filling the Celica's role, so the blank is easy to fill. It doesn't sound like Tada spoke the word "MR2" to EVO, or hinted that the car would be mid-engined, but Tada doesn't seem to say anything without purpose. Whatever the layout, this third car – if it comes to fruition – will probably play a role similar to the MR2 in relation to its stablemates. To translate: it'll likely be even lighter and more nimble, and probably less powerful, than the 86. The closest real-world analogue to the pure MR2 ideal is the Honda S660, a mid-engined Kei roadster that's on sale in Japan right now. It's light, small, and powered by a 0.66-liter inline-three. Toyota could decide to directly compete with the S660, borrow an engine from its small-car specialist subsidiary Daihatsu, and produce a mid-engined MR2. Another possibility, even simpler from Toyota's perspective, would be to adapt the existing Daihatsu Copen roadster. Sure, it's front-engine and front-wheel drive, but it's a small, light roadster. And even better, it sells abroad with a larger 1.3-liter engine. Restyle it slightly, perhaps to resemble the S-FR concept of a couple years ago, and it's an off-the-shelf solution. The S-FR itself is a third possibility.