Now that the 86, Supra, Land Cruiser, Celica, and possibly Starlet and MR2 have all been properly resurrected, what other historic model names can Toyota bring back? Sports cars and SUVs are all well covered. How about a minivan? According to a new report out of Japan, the Estima, which was sold int he US as the Previa, will be the latest badge from the Toyota archives to be dusted off.
According to Best Car, the Estima will debut in 2026 and slot between Toyota’s mid-size Noah/Voxy and the uber-deluxe Alphard/Vellfire. Initially the magazine wrote that the Estima would be a purely battery-electric van riding on the same global EV platform as the bZ4X. It even suggested that the full name could be Estima bZ6M (with the “M” for minivan). However, a later report stated that pure electricity might not necessarily be the sole powertrain.
Though the Previa was only sold in the US for one generation, from 1991 to 1997, in the US, in Japan it was succeeded by two additional generations. The final Estima rolled off the assembly only in March 2020. All three generations had distinctive egg-like styling and the reports say that we should expect a similarly avant-garde profile for the new one. The Estima is an absolutely iconic model for Toyota, so it’s bringing back all its greatest hits, the Estima should definitely be on that album.
