Random picture of a Mark II Grande GX71 I found on Minkara with the same chin spoiler as the Carina GT-TR I posted last week:
Same chin spoiler
I definitely want one! (Both the Mark II and the chin spoiler! ;) )
Tag: mark II grande limited
Toyota Mark II Grande GX61? Check! Boomerang antenna? Check! Pompadour? Check! Harem (MC Hammer) pants? Check! It can’t get more (late) 80s than this! Stop! Hammer time!
Toyota Mark II Grande GX61 Boomerang
Time for some more rust(oseums)!
Let’s start with this Toyota Mark II Grande GX81:
Beaten up Toyota Mark II Grande GX81
It might have been stolen and dumped in the middle of nowhere after they beaten up this Mark II enough… Bit of a shame though: it is the Mark II Grande model, so it is the top of the line model…
What about this Cedric Y31?
Nissan Cedric Y31 parked in foliage
It looks like this hardtop model is still in perfectly good health! Just parked somewhere in the foliage and left there for ages… Or could it be that it was parked in an open space and the foliage just grew around it? :P
Rusty Nissan 521 pickup truck
Now even if this 1970 or 1971 Nissan 521 is quite rusty, it may still be in use! Tires aren’t flat yet and judging from headrest on the driver seat it must have been replaced some time ago. It is clear that the model is the 521 since the grille has the four horizontal bars. This did not feature on the 520 models, but only on the 521 model.
All three pictures were taken from the usual place:
?????? (life doodling)
What does Toyota have in common with Ferrari? Simple: both were selling their cars through the Magnum P.I. image!
When the Magnum P.I. television series aired in 1980 the sales of the Ferrari 308 GTS (and other models) boomed. Tom Selleck’s favorite car had so much appeal to the audience that everyone loved the car, including me! Even though I was only a little boy back in the early 80s that 308 GTS is somehow burned in my mind together with the image of a mustache wearing P.I.
Apparently Toyota thought the sex appeal of Thomas Magnum was strong enough to sell the “sporty” 1982 Mark II GX61:
To be honest: the 1G-GEU sounds really sporty…when modified the right way… But it will never sound as good as the V8 of any 308! ;)
The same salaryman features in the second commercial in this clip:
But then he promotes the Mark II Grande Limited. The seats of that Grande Limited look like one of those very comfortable couches from the 60s my grandma used to own. Mmmmm, soft! ;)