Take a measure of Toyota Sienna Minivan (the shell) and place it atop a frame, with running gear, from the Toyota Tacoma – you get the Toyota UUV; aka, Ultimate Utility Vehicle. The Toyota UUV is a mixture of public-relations posturing mixed in with real mechanical know-how. The project addresses a new chapter for Toyota.
“Toyota Motor North America today unveiled architectural renderings of its future North American headquarters, providing new details of the site layout and exterior design of its environmentally sensitive corporate campus. In support of the Company’s “One Toyota” vision, the renderings reveal buildings and outdoor spaces designed to create a collaborative environment that encourages discovery, transparency and creativity.
To mark the occasion, Toyota also launched the Ever-Better Expedition – the North American leg of a real-world, global driving project designed to support and unite Toyota’s 330,000 worldwide team members in their mission to create ever-better vehicles. A convoy of Toyota vehicles left Plano June 24 on a 110-day transcontinental journey that will allow Toyota engineers and other team members to feel the road, experience vehicle performance, connect with customers and gather new insights to inspire the design and development of future vehicles.
https://youtu.be/KOA9lNFUnuY
“Bringing our team members together at this striking and inspiring new campus in Plano will help Toyota become a more cohesive, collaborative and innovative company so we can serve our customers better,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota’s North America Region. “Our efforts to become One Toyota in North America go hand-in-hand with the goals of the Ever-Better Expedition, which embodies our passion for continuous improvement and sharing ideas so that we can deliver products that exceed our customers’ expectations.” – – Toyota USA
No word on actual performance upgrades, or how easily the van shell fit on the Tacoma frame. It looks mighty good and, outwardly, the custom job seems immaculate. I would guess that the Toyota UUV has an automatic transmission and the big V6 straight from the Tacoma. The rear end is unique with those massive trailing arms. It’s a good bet that more information will be released at this year’s SEMA show.
There are no expectations for the Toyota UUV to go into production. But, could you imagine how cool the world would be if it did? I would buy it and so would many of you!
Speaking of cool off-road Toyotas…
worldwide.
