It was put together with an Italian feel

The Verossa was introduced in July 2001 as the successor to the Toyota Chaser and Cresta. It inherited the Cresta’s “luxury personal sedan” styling, but the body design had a bolder styling. Let us look back again at what kind of car it was.

Developed under the theme of “emotional sedan”

As Toyota’s middle-class sedan, the Toyota Mark II at one time outsold compact cars such as the Nissan March and Honda Civic, and its siblings, the Chaser and Cresta, have long reigned as Toyota’s popular “Mark II 3 Brothers.

But as demand for sedans gradually shrank, the Chaser and Cresta were discontinued in October 2000, bringing the three brothers to an end, and only the Mark II underwent a full model change to the ninth generation. The Verossa was introduced late in July 2001 as a new sibling to the 9th generation Mark II.

Although it is treated as the successor to the Chaser and Cresta, it was not sold at the Netz stores that sold the Chaser, but at the Vista stores that sold the Cresta. Its character was also different from that of the Chaser and Cresta, and was developed under the theme of “emotional sedan”.

Although it shared the platform with the 9th generation Mark II, the exterior design was clad in an emotional design that combined sculpted surfaces and soft curves. The car’s name was also coined from the Italian words for truth (Vero) and red (Rosso), giving it an Italian feel.

The interior also took a different approach from the conservative Chaser and Cresta models, with an oval metallic ring on the air conditioner vent, an instrument panel different from that of the Mark II, and red interior lighting.

Three types of engines were available

The powertrain was the same as that of the Mark II, with a 2L inline 6-cylinder 1G-FE, a 2.5L inline 6-cylinder 1JZ-FSE, and a turbo inline 6-cylinder 1JZ-GTE. The turbo model was also available with a 3-pedal manual transmission, and the suspension was stiffer than that of the Mark II to emphasize its sportiness, and it had an exhaust system with a specially tuned sound system.

In addition, in January 2002, Modellista released a special edition model named the “Speciale”. The top grade “Speciale VR25 SG” with a turbocharged engine had a maximum output of 300 hp thanks to a special turbocharger by Yamaha, making it an even hotter model.

However, the glamorous Italian design was not well received by the segment that purchases new Toyota sedans in this class, and the model was discontinued in the spring of 2004, earlier than the Mark II, and no successor model was ever set up.