We are sad to report that the Toyota USA Museum appears to be sending two of its cars to the crusher. A gold 1978 Cressida and a 2003 Prius with a very distinct livery have surfaced in a recycling yard near Dallas, Texas, close to Toyota USA’s headquarters. Both of these cars are almost certainly from Toyota’s museum.
The two cars were spotted by a JNC reader at the salvage facility being prepared for crushing. We photographed an identical-looking X30 Cressida at the Toyota USA Museum when it was still located in Torrance, California in 2017, just before they moved the cars to Texas. While we don’t have the VIN to match, both are finished in 472 Gold Metallic with a tan interior.
The Prius is a lot more identifiable. A green-over-white livery, lowered stance, and Mooneyes Moon Discs indicate that this is the same Prius as the one once displayed at the Toyota USA Museum in Torrance. This car set a land speed record in 2004 when it hit 130.794 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The car was driven by Prius chief engineer Shigeyuki Hori, Toyota North America’s then-VP of Technical and Regulatory Affairs Fumiaki Kobayashi, and Car and Driver writer Aaron Robinson. The skunkworks team spent just two months modifying the hybrid, gutting the interior while adding a racing seat, harness, and roll cage. The suspension was lowered by five inches and it rolled on special Goodyear tires made specifically for land speed record attempts.
According to Toyota, the stock XW20 Prius has a top speed of 106 mph. To increase that figure by 19 percent engineers lowered the final drive ratio from 4.32:1 to 3.2:1 for higher gearing and increased inverter voltage from 500 to 550 volts so the system could rev higher. The Prius’s unprecedented result opened up a new hybrid class at Bonneville at a time when the gasoline-electric technology was relatively new. So it’s not without historical significance, but soon it’ll be nothing but a cube of crumpled steel.
So will the Cressida. Our source told us that the X30 was “MINT” but, sadly, when he asked if the cars were for sale, twice, he was denied. They can’t even be parted out. The facility is under strict orders to crush the cars. Sometimes manufacturers build race and show cars out of pre-production examples that lack a VIN. As such, they cannot be registered for road use. That might be the case for the Prius, which was contributed by Toyota to be converted into a race car. Sometimes they’re concept cars that can’t be driven to begin with.
The Cressida, on the other hand, definitely hit the road at some point. It was either purchased by the museum many years after it was sold, or donated by a loving owner. The telltale signs are the aftermarket door speakers, a popular add-on item in the 80s.
Perhaps they don’t want to sell the Cressida for fear of liability, though we know Toyota has sold museum cars to private owners before. If liability’s the reason, we’re not sure why Toyota couldn’t hold on to two measly cars. Whatever they were costing the company is surely a drop in the bucket for an entity that made $61.7 billion last year.
In the end, car companies keep heritage collections to tell a story. It seems that Toyota thinks this Prius and Cressida no longer have any stories that are relevant to their current or future lineup. Or it’s possible they found a better X30 for their collection. If not, there were several generations of Cressida at the museum. We hope the others don’t meet this same fate.
I first checked that the date of this article was NOT 01 April !
Unfortunately not.
It’s the almighty dollar once again!
– and they purport to be “enthusiasts” and talk the talk about “passion” – ha!
It’s all about the money with those big companies when it comes down to brass tacks.
…. always
WTF!
I WANT THAT CRESSIDA!!
Come on Toyota, what’s with you? Certainly, you are better than this.
This just make many of us JNC’ers sad/angry. Why Toyota ??
Oh what a feeling! >:(
Glad I never donated anything to the museum.
I don’t advocate for car theft, but if they’re refusing to sell that Cressida, it needs to be liberated. Literally zero reason to scrap it
Amen!
very sad that Toyota would do this with a prius record holding car and a now rare Cressida,which could look right at home in a 1980s or late 1970s movie or TV series. wish whoever made this decision thought twice about both.
I used to be in product planning for Toyota and was involved in prototypes. I’m guessing, but highly suspect the Prius was a prototype. As we knew every prototype was going to the chrusher anyway this was a common practice. Many reasons prototypes can never bee sold that I won’t go into here. The Cressida is another matter, highly doubtful was a prototype. Attorneys will argue with some justification that selling the Cressida just invites liability beyond what would ever be realized from selling the car. It’s a shame that didn’t keep both, particularly the Prius. Very short sighted.
This is very sad. I’m curious as to why the Cressida cannot be sold. As y’all know, I work for a museum. We have policies in place for when we “deassess” (sell) a vehicle. Sometimes, the director even obeys them. Nowhere in our policies is there a requirement to destroy a vehicle.
Imagine being the person who cared for this car from new (or the heirs of that person), then donated it to a museum so it would have a good home. Only for the museum to crush the car instead of selling it on to a person who would appreciate it.
Yes, seriously!! My kids and I are indeed fortunate to have bought such a “deassessed” vehicle from the LMM (namely, a 1954 Panhard Dyna Z) and I can indeed attest that we appreciate it greatly!! We’re in the midst of getting it back on the road (time permitting, as one kid is in college and the other one is starting a career) and it’s quite a joy to work on, to behold, and to someday drive. The Dyna Z is in good hands, if I may say so 🙂 Hopefully the Toyota museum can somehow reverse its decision.
So glad to hear that the Dyna Z has a good home and is being cherished!
Toyota corporate folks read this site, I’m sure of it.
HAVE A HEART, SELL US THE CRESSIDA. There’s absolutely no cromulent reason for the wanton destruction of this rare gem.
This nugget needs saving. Might be the nicest Cressida in existence.
The museum had a beautiful dark blue X70 Cressida That got donated to some technical school to be torn apart. It was posted on the “Underappreciated Survivors” Facebook page a few years back.
I don’t think they ever had an X80.
They finally had serial number one X60, which was light blue. I have not heard what happened to that car. Whether they still have it, donated it to get killed, or it got crushed already, someone needs to find out.
The former curator of that museum spent years getting that collection together. I don’t believe she was retained in the move to Texas. This is absolutely sickening. Meanwhile they probably needed to make room for a Grand Highlander or BMW Supra. I want to throw up.
Let me have that Cressida and I’ll sign all the documents Toyota wants me to promising not to sue!!