Model: Toyota WiLL Vi
Price: 350,000 Yen
I just about managed to justify yesterday's little indiscretion, but I am doubtful I will get away with a similar feat today. For today we are heading ever deeper into the realms of kitsch. May I present the freakish anomaly that was Toyota's 5-year experiment into the world of the wacky and unorthodox - the WiLL sub-brand.
Here and now, in the economic quagmire that is 2009, Toyota is a veritable bastion of conservatism, albeit a loss making bastion of conservatism. It continues to churn out humdrum conformist products which are closer in character to domestic appliances than they are to avant-garde automotive objets. Sure, the iQ is an innovative and intelligent piece of packaging, as attested to by the car's clutch of design awards, but it hardly screams, 'Look at me I'm one sandwich short of a picnic!'
Things weren't always this way though. As little as four short years ago Toyota was a hub of inspired left-of-centre creativity. Certainly back in 2005 emotive, sporting vehicles such as the Celica and MR2 were still in production, but more importantly in Japan, the WiLL sub-brand was still knocking out oddities which pushed the design envelope to see just how wacky regular consumers could take their cars.
Just as Nissan went through a hare-brained spell in the late '80s and early '90s, which resulted in the zany, retro-styled 'Pike Cars' (Pao, Be-1, Figaro et al), Toyota defiantly strode into its brief age of rebellious nonconformity at the advent of the new millennium. In January 2000, Toyota launched its WiLL sub-brand (distinguished by a small square orange logo) with the unveiling of the capriciously shaped Vi. In fact Toyota weren't alone in this epic endeavour, but were instead joined by a whole host of other Japanese corporations from Panasonic to Asahi Beer, all producing slightly outlandish products aimed squarely at the youth generation.
Although based on the run of the mill 1st generation Vitz/Yaris, and sharing a large number of parts with the ubiquitous econobox, the Vi (presumably just 'Vitz' minus the 'tz'?) was clothed in a bizarrely alluring skin which exudes eccentric Gallic charm. The car's styling is an unquestionable and eclectic mix of classic Citroen design cues; the reverse-raked rear window from the Ami, the contours and canvas roof of the 2cv, and the corrugated bodywork of the Mehari. A true Gallic melange. In fact the French influence runs so deep that the shape of the instrument panel is rumoured to be modeled on that of a baguette. Sacre bleu. Wikipedia however takes a slightly less design savvy perspective, citing Cinderella's pumpkin coach as a key design influence. Apocryphal, but nonetheless amusing.
The Vi was allegedly unpopular with its owners for the poor visibility afforded by its eccentric design, and the later and less derivative WiLL models, the VS and the Cypha, were arguably more popular. For me though, the Vi is the definitive WiLL. As fans of Citroen's 2CV will testify: 'Ceci n'est pas une voiture, c'est un art de vivre.' This isn't a car, it's a way of life.
