GTP Cool Wall: 1966-1969 Toyota P20 800 Van Deluxe

1966-1969 Toyota P20 800 Van Deluxe

  • Total voters
    105
  • Poll closed .
White & Nerdy

White & Nerdy

4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
1966-1969 Toyota P20 800 Van Deluxe nominated Roger the Horse

640px-Toyota_Publica_800_Van_DeLuxe_%28UP26V-D%29.jpg


Stats:
Production: 1966-1969
Style: 2-door wagon
Engine: 2U-C 48 ci/790 ci naturally aspirated OHV flat-2 (rated 39 HP & ??? lb-ft), 2U-B 48 ci/790 cc naturally aspirated OHV flat-2 (rated 48 HP & ??? lb-ft)
Transmission: Toyoglide 2-speed automatic, 4-speed manual
Layout: Front-engine, rear-drive
Related: Toyota Publica (this is acutally a submodel of the P20 series), Toyota MiniAce​

My take? Actually an interesting looking car, suffering from a serious lack of horsepower - and before you say anything, I know why it has a tiny gutless engine, but that has no bearing on coolness. I wonder if you could cram a newer Toyota V6 in there, whithout resorting to ridiculous pontoon fenders? There's an idea for a project car...

Also, the engine situation is a bit confusing, but then it would be, since I'm relying on Wikipedia for information on an obscure car. The most sensical piece of information I can find is that the 2U-C was used in the base models, while the 2U-B was the engine from the Toyota Sports 800 and was used in the later Publica Super - but then the page on the Toyota U engine says the 2U-C was the one used in the Sports 800 :odd:
 
For me, old Japanese cars are cool, but I can't really explain why...

I'd try the engine from a Yamaha YZF-R6, 600cc that makes 122 HP @14,500 RPM, connected to a 6-speed sequential manual.

I bet that'd be fun.
 
It does look really good, a bit sporty but not "in your face". The proportions and the lines are very interesting and should catch some attention on the street, the right kind of attention. I'd second the motion of getting a small, more modern engine inside for some decent 21st century power, something like an 80HP bike engine should suffice.

I give it a Cool. Not Sub-Zero but definitely a car that will make you look interesting in almost every possible social situation;
 
That's pretty cool.

Very clean styling from that era - no huge fins or overdone light enclosures, but unmistakeable as being a part of that time.
 
Had never heard of this thing before, but it gets a cool on the "quirky old car" factor. A car to make you go "ooh" as it passes.
 
CarBastard
I'd second the motion of getting a small, more modern engine inside for some decent 21st century power, something like an 80HP bike engine should suffice.
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It weighs 580 kg, so even with 80 HP it should move along decently.
 
A 1960s Japanese car is pretty much an automatic cool from me. This is a little too dorky for a Sub Zero, so Cool it is.
 
Not only does it suck to drive, the car doesn't even have the four doors to deliver on the space to accommodate the space it attempts to give to passengers.

I have no interest in trying to get into a 2 door station wagon (especially when it's an under-powered japanese car from 30/40/50 years ago. :lol:

Save it for the LAME wall. :(
 
It definitely wouldn't be exciting to drive but it's certainly nice to look at it.

Azure Flare
It weighs 580 kg, so even with 80 HP it should move along decently.
Click to expand...

580kg??

I was on the fence, now it's definitely a sub zero!

No seriously, like - 4 people could pick it up and move it, that's absurd - give it modern suspension, a modern engine and some strut bracing to compensate for the dated chassis and I'd definitely drive one of these.
 
I don't know how I've never seen it, or even heard of it, but it looks the definition of cool retro car for me: Sub Zero

If you wondered about the back as I did:

Toyota_Publica_800_Van_DeLuxe_%28UP26V-D%29_rear_view.jpg
 
It's a 2 door van.

2 DOORS. ON A NON INDUSTRIAL VAN! IT'S GOT BACK SEATS, D:censored:T!

Not even the Renault Espace F1 and the Ford Transit has that cool factor. SUUUUUBBBBBB!
 
Had me at "shooting-brake".

Not to mention it's quite attractive in its own right for a Japanese car of that era.
 
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Kent
Not only does it suck to drive
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How could you possibly know that? Have you ever driven one? From what I can tell they are incredibly rare in the US.

====

Anyway, I gave it a cool. Old Japanese cars are almost always cool because they are almost always interesting. Also they aren't muscle cars, which is always cool to me.
 
Joey D
How could you possibly know that? Have you ever driven one? From what I can tell they are incredibly rare in the US.

====

Anyway, I gave it a cool. Old Japanese cars are almost always cool because they are almost always interesting. Also they aren't muscle cars, which is always cool to me.
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Assumptions, everyone else can make them, feel free to make one about me. :sly:

Tires, age, power, technology, I'm going out on a limb and saying it's no sports car.
Like I've said before, Golf Carts can be fun to drive, that doesn't make them cool.

Plus, imo the car is ugly.
 
An interesting looking little car, especially in this estate/wagon form and my gut instinct would be to go with cool. But, the car pictured has been stanced to an extent, it doesn't look quite so interesting or different with the standard ride height, so just a meh from me.
 
The thing is, sticking a small, high-revving motorcycle engine in this car would be the sane and predictable thing to do. Shoving a much larger passenger car in there, with the same or greater output and more low-end pull, would be the nuts and thus cool thing to do. A car this size with a cranked up Camry V6 would be ridiculous, bordering on IRL Troll Car status, and it'd probably be pretty easy to knock the back end loose too.

Putting that engine where the rear seats should be is not out of the question either.
 
The fact many single cylinder engines make equal to a lot of those power figures at 1/4 of their displacement, makes it uncool. It would just be really slow. Crazy slow.

Cool. For the rod potential and the styling.
 
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It doesn't need heaps of power to be cool. It's a quirky old car that will spread joy wherever it goes, so I wouldn't underestimate the fun that can be had zipping about town in this van.

White & Nerdy
Related: Toyota Publica (this is acutally a submodel of the P20 series)
Click to expand...

It actually is a Toyota Publica, not a submodel.

'P20' is nothing more than the generic model code of the facelifted Publica, 'UP26V-D' is the specific model code for the Publica 800 Van Deluxe nominated, and either code is just alphanumerical hotchpotch to everyone but the most hardcore Toyota fanatics. The Publica nameplate is already quite well-known in the generations that were young in the 60s and 70s, so referring to it as 'P20' is really more confusing than necessary.

44fdd8af39e72cc8e64320e2ec8ef1bf2e654623_m.jpg
 

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