History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Toyota Previa page on 17 February 2025, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Toyota Previa, also known as the Toyota Estima in Japan, and Toyota Tarago in Australia, is a minivan that was produced by Toyota from 1990 until October 2019 across three generations.

The name "Previa" is derived from the Spanish for "preview", as Toyota saw the first Previa as a vehicle that would preview technologies used in future minivans. The Previa was the second largest minivan in Toyota's lineup in Japan after the bigger and more luxurious Alphard/Vellfire.

First generation (XR10/XR20; 1990)

The first generation, designed by Toyota designer Tokuo Fukuichi and Calty designer David Doyle in 1987 (patent filed 24 December 1987), was introduced on 27 January 1990, and had only one sliding side door for the rear passengers. It featured a mid-engined platform, where the inline-four cylinder gasoline-powered engine was installed almost flat beneath the front seats, canted at a 75-degree angle from vertical to the right, viewed from the rear of the vehicle. This allowed the designers to maximize interior space for a given exterior size.

Second generation (XR30/XR40; 2000)

The first generation Previa was sold outside the United States until 8 January 2000, when a newer front-wheel drive second generation replaced it. The second generation was not available in North America, as they received the Toyota Sienna.

It was produced with sliding rear passenger doors on both sides and offered space for up to six, seven or eight passengers and, as with the first generation, was sold as the Estima in Japan and as the Tarago in Australia. The range available in Australia was the GLi, GLX and Ultima.

Third generation (XR50; 2006)

The third-generation model was introduced in 2006 in Japanese and Australian markets as the Estima and Tarago respectively, and as the Previa in other markets. This generation was notably absent from the European market.

Features include an available second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive drivetrain (only in the Japanese market), automatic parallel and reverse parking (only on Toyota Estima), Lane-Keep Assist (LKA) system which detects the lane markers on the road and steers the car on the right direction (for Estima only), Adaptive Front-Lighting System low beam headlamps which assists to light up the upcoming road around a bend, track-mounted second row reclining seats with footrests, and power-folding split third row seats (for seven-seater models). It received a minor facelift in 2009.

Bibliography