It took just about 13 months in Japan for me to finally find a car I like and then get it in my possession here in Takahagi. Here it is:
It's a 1993 Toyota Mark II Tourer V. I want to try and explain this car since most people back home haven't heard of it. It's a 4 door rear wheel drive midsize sedan with the 1JZ-GTE twin turbo 2.5L engine. Trying to compare it to cars people know, in terms of basic layout and size it seems similar to the BMW 5 series or Nissan Skyline sedans of the time. The exterior length is 187.0 inches, width is 68.9, and height is 54.7. The wheelbase is 107.5 inches and the curb weight is 3190 lbs. All of those dimensions put it pretty close to a 5 series of the time, or if you like a '93 Nissan Maxima. Or, what most people most commonly mistake it for... a Toyota Camry. Here's a stock Camry and stock Mark II for comparison:
It has a longer wheelbase, but yeah, lookswise I guess it is pretty close. I think the slight differences do make a better overall image. And, of course, the layout makes it a completely different car, which is why I think the comparison to the BMW 5 series is more accurate. And I don't think MY car looks much like a Camry. The Mark II was a high volume seller for Japan just like the Camry was in America, and you can see many ordinary Mark IIs, like the Grande (lol) above. Context is also slightly different, as a car of this size with RWD was more upmarket and executive in Japan's smaller scale world, whereas the visually similar Camry with FWD was a family car perfectly suited to Americans.
Next is that last part of the nameplate, the Tourer V. I'm not sure where they got the V part from, but it means that the Mark II Tourer V is the sportiest sedan Toyota made at the time. Two other Toyota sedans could also carry the Tourer V badge, the Chaser and the Cresta. Actually, all three cars (collectively called the Mark II brothers here in Japan) were basically the same, with slightly different front and rear lights and grille, and other minor changes, like the Cresta's full frame doors. The Cresta was considered the most luxurious of the three, and the Chaser the sportiest, with the Mark II in the middle, but mechanically all three cars were identical in terms of engine, drivetrain, and suspension. People complain about GM badge engineering identical cars under different brands, but at least they had different brands. Toyota sold three cars that were exactly the same under one brand!
Back to that engine... the 1JZ-GTE is a twin turbo 2.5 litre engine that also saw duty in the last model year of the 3rd gen Supra here, as well as the fastest Toyota Soarer. A non-turbo version of this engine was in the Lexus SC300. The block of the 1JZ is actually pretty close to the 2JZ, the all powerful heart of the 4th gen Supra. There are of course other differences. The 2JZ-GTE's turbos are sequential, and the 1JZ-GTE's are not, which means the 1JZ-GTE has much more turbo lag. Both the 1JZ-GTE and the 2JZ-GTE were listed as 276 hp factory, both at the legal limit for Japan, and both considered lower than the actual power figures, although the Supra's 2JZ-GTE was probably the more conservative of the two. Sorry for the crappy comparison picture, but I don't have a scanner so I just had to use my camera to get this pic out of my copy of Hyper Rev for the Mark II. Drivetrain and suspension changes rounded out the upgrade to Tourer V status, but I don't have a lot of hard info on what changed there exactly. I think that's enough for now, even though I haven't actually said much about my own car, just the Mark II model. But I wanted to give everyone a good idea of the car itself before I talk about my car specifically. Here's one more pic of my car until next time:
It's a 1993 Toyota Mark II Tourer V. I want to try and explain this car since most people back home haven't heard of it. It's a 4 door rear wheel drive midsize sedan with the 1JZ-GTE twin turbo 2.5L engine. Trying to compare it to cars people know, in terms of basic layout and size it seems similar to the BMW 5 series or Nissan Skyline sedans of the time. The exterior length is 187.0 inches, width is 68.9, and height is 54.7. The wheelbase is 107.5 inches and the curb weight is 3190 lbs. All of those dimensions put it pretty close to a 5 series of the time, or if you like a '93 Nissan Maxima. Or, what most people most commonly mistake it for... a Toyota Camry. Here's a stock Camry and stock Mark II for comparison:
It has a longer wheelbase, but yeah, lookswise I guess it is pretty close. I think the slight differences do make a better overall image. And, of course, the layout makes it a completely different car, which is why I think the comparison to the BMW 5 series is more accurate. And I don't think MY car looks much like a Camry. The Mark II was a high volume seller for Japan just like the Camry was in America, and you can see many ordinary Mark IIs, like the Grande (lol) above. Context is also slightly different, as a car of this size with RWD was more upmarket and executive in Japan's smaller scale world, whereas the visually similar Camry with FWD was a family car perfectly suited to Americans.
Next is that last part of the nameplate, the Tourer V. I'm not sure where they got the V part from, but it means that the Mark II Tourer V is the sportiest sedan Toyota made at the time. Two other Toyota sedans could also carry the Tourer V badge, the Chaser and the Cresta. Actually, all three cars (collectively called the Mark II brothers here in Japan) were basically the same, with slightly different front and rear lights and grille, and other minor changes, like the Cresta's full frame doors. The Cresta was considered the most luxurious of the three, and the Chaser the sportiest, with the Mark II in the middle, but mechanically all three cars were identical in terms of engine, drivetrain, and suspension. People complain about GM badge engineering identical cars under different brands, but at least they had different brands. Toyota sold three cars that were exactly the same under one brand! 
Back to that engine... the 1JZ-GTE is a twin turbo 2.5 litre engine that also saw duty in the last model year of the 3rd gen Supra here, as well as the fastest Toyota Soarer. A non-turbo version of this engine was in the Lexus SC300. The block of the 1JZ is actually pretty close to the 2JZ, the all powerful heart of the 4th gen Supra. There are of course other differences. The 2JZ-GTE's turbos are sequential, and the 1JZ-GTE's are not, which means the 1JZ-GTE has much more turbo lag. Both the 1JZ-GTE and the 2JZ-GTE were listed as 276 hp factory, both at the legal limit for Japan, and both considered lower than the actual power figures, although the Supra's 2JZ-GTE was probably the more conservative of the two. Sorry for the crappy comparison picture, but I don't have a scanner so I just had to use my camera to get this pic out of my copy of Hyper Rev for the Mark II. Drivetrain and suspension changes rounded out the upgrade to Tourer V status, but I don't have a lot of hard info on what changed there exactly. I think that's enough for now, even though I haven't actually said much about my own car, just the Mark II model. But I wanted to give everyone a good idea of the car itself before I talk about my car specifically. Here's one more pic of my car until next time:
