1990 Toyota Previa All-Trac / forthcoming
$7.5k ︎ 114k
07/2023
Rumniation
Convenience is the feeling of things being done for us, shortcuts being made. It can at first provide a sense of ease, but eventually, swaddled by tech, made incapable of solving ones own problems, and at far remove from the mechanisms we rely on, we become powerless. As best exemplified by the button, one pushes on the underside of an SUV hatch to close the SUV hatch.
Pleasure is something else entirely; it is a direct connection to something deep inside of us something pre-verbal, a sensation that releases a set of chemicals we evolved to crave in conjunction with the essential elements of survival: sleep, Sex, Sugar, speed, prospect, and refuge.
Driving is fun because it feels good to move faster than we can run, it’s essentially stimulating, and engaging, but there are more pleasures to be found in a car. And for a brief moment, post-fuel injection, pre-infotainment, car designers & engineers worked to reconfigure the mechanical assemblies to radically improve human access to the sensations that make us feel good.
The Toyota Previa is the apex of this humanistic design in a mass-market automobile.
In the heady days of boomer banging (AKA making millennials) in the long aftermath of a gas crisis that kept fuel efficiency top of mind, the mini-van was a fertile territory of innovation. And, incredibly, built a rather sophisticated market that opened up to truly space-age design expression, especially paired with the Japanese reliability that had quickly decimated the reputation of domestic vehicles.
The Previa wastes no space in the service of creating a feeling of open space. The mechanical components flipped, rotated, and puzzled into an almost impossibly shallow assembly, all in the service of creating an uninterrupted interior volume, a rolling room that feels good to sit in but can be quickly dissembled to function as an efficient work truck (a standard 4x8’ sheet of plywood lays flat on the floor.)
And then the glass, so much glass, more glass than we will ever have again. A true panorama, providing situational awareness and contextual intimacy forever lost in our era of omnipresent airbags and yelping proximity sensors.
The absolute brilliance of the fold-up rear seats means four people can drive to a camp spot with all their shit, and two of them can sleep on a nearly queen sized piece of foam while the kids get the tent outside… Bring some chocolate, and you’ve got it all: sleep, Sex, Sugar, speed, prospect, and refuge.
Information
I bought this car from the neighbor of a 928 friend, way up in the Oakland hills. He had no intention of selling the car but also hadn’t really driven it for multiple years; it sat in his driveway, the sun slowly baking off the clear coat and plant matter finding it’s way into every nook and cranny. It looked abandoned. But my 928 buddy knew it was special and connected us. We met in July, he was determined to get it smogged, and after new plugs, a distributor ,and a tune it finally did. I bought it in November. I then proceeded to do what I always do and purchased every suspension component I could. My goal with my cars is to try and recreate the as-new driving experience, and this is always how I start:
- Suspension Kit (KYB): Front and Rear struts, mounts, bellows - Inner & outer Tie rod ends (Mevotech) - Stabilizer bar end link +bushings, front and rear (Mevotech) - Fuel Filter - Air filter - Ball joints (Delphi)
Unfortunately, after six months of not having time to do this job, I realized the right thing to do is sell it to someone who can… or if you’re the lifted over-land type it would be an awesome candidate for that, just not my scene.
I have 22 years of mechanical history for this car, every receipt was saved (52 of them), at least $6400 was done. The previous owner was responsible and got things taken care of as they appeared. This car was driven very little over the last two decades, one can see the odometer continuesly moving up until the middle of last year when it broke. There are defineitely less than 130k miles on this van.
There is surface rust on the components below; twenty five years old from a few years spent in Utah. The body panels are all good, wheel wells, sills, etc. The rust is contained to replaceable parts. “Rust free” on the east coast, “minor rust” on the west.
Does the AC work? Saddly no, however, it was transitioned to R13, I have the documentation of that.
Comes with extra set of (nearly) matching Captains chairs in excellent condition.
Do, the windows, door locks, and electronic stuff work? Yes!
It drives nicely too.
Convenience is the feeling of things being done for us, shortcuts being made. It can at first provide a sense of ease, but eventually, swaddled by tech, made incapable of solving ones own problems, and at far remove from the mechanisms we rely on, we become powerless. As best exemplified by the button, one pushes on the underside of an SUV hatch to close the SUV hatch.
Pleasure is something else entirely; it is a direct connection to something deep inside of us something pre-verbal, a sensation that releases a set of chemicals we evolved to crave in conjunction with the essential elements of survival: sleep, Sex, Sugar, speed, prospect, and refuge.
Driving is fun because it feels good to move faster than we can run, it’s essentially stimulating, and engaging, but there are more pleasures to be found in a car. And for a brief moment, post-fuel injection, pre-infotainment, car designers & engineers worked to reconfigure the mechanical assemblies to radically improve human access to the sensations that make us feel good.
The Toyota Previa is the apex of this humanistic design in a mass-market automobile.
In the heady days of boomer banging (AKA making millennials) in the long aftermath of a gas crisis that kept fuel efficiency top of mind, the mini-van was a fertile territory of innovation. And, incredibly, built a rather sophisticated market that opened up to truly space-age design expression, especially paired with the Japanese reliability that had quickly decimated the reputation of domestic vehicles.
The Previa wastes no space in the service of creating a feeling of open space. The mechanical components flipped, rotated, and puzzled into an almost impossibly shallow assembly, all in the service of creating an uninterrupted interior volume, a rolling room that feels good to sit in but can be quickly dissembled to function as an efficient work truck (a standard 4x8’ sheet of plywood lays flat on the floor.)
And then the glass, so much glass, more glass than we will ever have again. A true panorama, providing situational awareness and contextual intimacy forever lost in our era of omnipresent airbags and yelping proximity sensors.
The absolute brilliance of the fold-up rear seats means four people can drive to a camp spot with all their shit, and two of them can sleep on a nearly queen sized piece of foam while the kids get the tent outside… Bring some chocolate, and you’ve got it all: sleep, Sex, Sugar, speed, prospect, and refuge.
Information
I bought this car from the neighbor of a 928 friend, way up in the Oakland hills. He had no intention of selling the car but also hadn’t really driven it for multiple years; it sat in his driveway, the sun slowly baking off the clear coat and plant matter finding it’s way into every nook and cranny. It looked abandoned. But my 928 buddy knew it was special and connected us. We met in July, he was determined to get it smogged, and after new plugs, a distributor ,and a tune it finally did. I bought it in November. I then proceeded to do what I always do and purchased every suspension component I could. My goal with my cars is to try and recreate the as-new driving experience, and this is always how I start:
- Suspension Kit (KYB): Front and Rear struts, mounts, bellows - Inner & outer Tie rod ends (Mevotech) - Stabilizer bar end link +bushings, front and rear (Mevotech) - Fuel Filter - Air filter - Ball joints (Delphi)
Unfortunately, after six months of not having time to do this job, I realized the right thing to do is sell it to someone who can… or if you’re the lifted over-land type it would be an awesome candidate for that, just not my scene.
I have 22 years of mechanical history for this car, every receipt was saved (52 of them), at least $6400 was done. The previous owner was responsible and got things taken care of as they appeared. This car was driven very little over the last two decades, one can see the odometer continuesly moving up until the middle of last year when it broke. There are defineitely less than 130k miles on this van.
There is surface rust on the components below; twenty five years old from a few years spent in Utah. The body panels are all good, wheel wells, sills, etc. The rust is contained to replaceable parts. “Rust free” on the east coast, “minor rust” on the west.
Does the AC work? Saddly no, however, it was transitioned to R13, I have the documentation of that.
Comes with extra set of (nearly) matching Captains chairs in excellent condition.
Do, the windows, door locks, and electronic stuff work? Yes!
It drives nicely too.