XR50 3.5 Aeras

STORY

Toyota put the Estima on sale in Japan on 30 May 1990, solving the space problem by tipping its 2,438 cc four 75 degrees and laying it under the centre of the floor. Calty gave it the egg shape; output was 135 PS, a supercharged 160 PS version followed in 1994, and drive went to the rear wheels or all four. Export markets took it as the Previa, and Oceania as the Tarago. Too wide for Japan's 5-number class, it gained narrower Emina and Lucida twins in January 1992, one for each of the two channels already selling it. On 11 January 2000 the second Estima moved the engine to the front as a 3.0-litre V6 and absorbed both twins, and on 15 June 2001 Toyota added what it calls the world's first hybrid minivan. The third car of 16 January 2006 drew roughly 26,000 orders in a month against a 7,000 target, and its hybrid moved to THS II that June. Production ended in October 2019.