Meet Verossa
I always wonder what Toyota was thinking when they designed the Verossa. Combining the Chasers sportiness besides the Crestas Luxury, Toyota landed somewhere in the middle with this. If you follow much of Toyotas designs over the years, most of the cars borrow a little here or there from each other and carry similar traits with grilles and headlights body lines and so on.
The Verossa broke every mold, its almost like the last little hoorah for the FR straight six platform, something to stand out. A crazy design from the companies concept department as if they gave someone the right to do whatever they like with the chassis and create something bold and unique that would stand out amongst the crowd. I think the Verossa succeeded, and with it came divided opinions.
I like the Verossa for the simple reason that it sticks out, it didn’t follow much of the lines of its brother (The MKII) for the final straight six FR line up from Toyota. The Chaser was (for now) retired after 2001 and in its place is this very bold very distinctive beast.
Coming across pictures a Verossa for the first time online gave me a proper jump back in my seat. The curvy shapes almost make the car look somewhat organic, like it’s alive, its crazy bug eyes and grill which looks like a snout is very distinctive, its almost like something from another universe, but still somehow I love it.
Ill be honest, for me I cant say I’m the biggest fan of these completely standard, stripped of all this dolled up madness floating around as an innocent commuting machine their bubbly swooping exterior usually comes without a front lip it can look a bit awkward and lost.
Its only when I seen a proper kitted version I gave these cars a proper second look. For the lady readers ill apologise in advance, as we refer to cars as females, my comparison for describing its beauty will be similar. For me, seeing a slammed Verossa with big wheels and a wing is like seeing a basic woman in a nice skirt and some heels, dolled up looking their most attractive.
This Verossa with its BN kit, canards, black paint, tinted windows and mega 10.5j Equips with black spokes, it has turned something relatively mundane and questionable into the alternative freaky female you have weird thoughts about but don’t want to tell anyone.
Everyone has them at one stage.This car has that same appeal, anyone I’ve asked about it can never really give me a straight answer, some will jump out and say they love it but many have to think about it and give an answer with caution.
The owner John admitted he wasn’t entirely sure at the start when he took ownership how he felt either but very quickly he grew to love its very distinctive look. A BN kit can make anything look amazing and to be honest this is exactly how many of us would build one of these if we were given the chance. I’ve never seen a car receive this much attention ever. While doing the shoot we were bombarded by onlookers curious as to what this was. The Kazama rear wing John acquired, looks like it was made for the rear shapes on the quarter panels.
The black curves demand attention and the kit and black spoke deep dish equips are almost like its six inch attention grabbing heels. John was in two minds about keeping this car but we had a good chat about the car over a night of shooting and he realized jut how much he enjoys this car. It’s also the VR25 model which was the top of the line in both a manual R154 and an LSD as standard.
The original owner even left some toys behind in the rear, which is weird but funny! John found pics of this rolling around Japan, imagine your Dad picking you up from school in his Blacked out straight six roaring through the streets.This almost seems like Toyotas last stab at leaving something bold and original for the straight six FR Sedan. After the 110 chassis the JZ series engine was retired ultimately killing any future plans for Toyota or any company from Japan for that matter even producing anything like this again.
John intents to hang onto this gem, with plans to add more horse power and enjoy the car for everything its worth which I’m glad to hear. Its nice to own something truly unique from a company which has given us so much good stuff already. There may never be another four door like this from Toyota ever again, it never really followed any previous shapes and nothing really came after it, it stood out in Japan and you can be sure it stands out in a place like Ireland.
We should be happy Toyota built the Verossa, in a heavily saturated choice market their choice to make such a bold machine will always baffle me. Production ceased in 2003 due to bad sales and it’s highly unlikely the company will ever try something like this again. For that reason alone this chassis is almost a cult classic in the making.
I’m glad someone thought outside the box imported this fine example to Ireland, I’m even more excited about finally seeing such a crazy example up close and personal. Its odd, its different buts it’s pretty fucking cool. After all we try our hardest to be unique in the car scene and there’s nothing really more unique that a 1JZ Bn Kitted Verossa.
Wheels/Tires/
Work Equip 19″ 10.5
Hankook Tyres
Suspension/Handling/
TRD Suspension
Ceika 6 potbrakes
Cusco front strut
Cusco rear strut
Transmission
Factory LSD
R154 Gearbox
Exterior
BN Sports Kit
Kunnyz Rear wing
Canards
Interior
TRD Shifter
Defi Gauges
Rear window blind
Engine
Factory 1Jz VVTI