A rare sight on the road today, the Cressida was arguably one of Toyota’s most important cars of the 1980s. In the American market, it was Toyota’s largest car at the time, primarily targeted towards the conservative middle class. Understated, yet powerful and built to last.

Its reliability record surpassed that of its European rivals in the same class. The Cressida was also known as the Mark 2, Cresta, and Chaser in other countries. The Cressida name primarily applied to the American market.

The first generation of the Cressida was introduced in 1977 with styling that resembled a Ford rather than a Japanese machine. Nevertheless, it carried all the attributes of a quality automobile.

Let's take a closer look at the Toyota Cressida and why we think it's underrated.

RELATED: 10 Things Everyone Forgot About The Toyota MR2

Introduction To The Cressida

Toyota Cressida Vintage
Via: Can Pac Swire, Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

By the time the third generation came out in the mid-eighties, it had established itself as a fine luxury car in the American car market, racing ahead of its rivals and building upon its success.

Its styling remained orthodox. However, the Cressida promised luxury, reliability, rear-wheel drive, and a powerful engine. By this time, it was presenting all the hallmarks of a future classic. In the American market, Toyota’s advertising slogan for the Cressida was ‘The most trouble-free new car sold in the US’.

A Lexus With A Toyota Badge

Toyota Cressida
Via: Riley, Wikimedia Commons - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Cressida of the late 1980s wasn’t scoring any points in the looks department. However, it made up for its conservative features in other areas. The interior being one of them. The Cressida was packed with many luxury features fitted as standard, such as automatic climate control, power windows, door locks, a theft-deterrent system, velour, or optional leather.

It also became the first car to have motorized automatic passive seatbelts—unheard of in many cars of the time. The competitive pricing of the Cressida could not be matched by its rivals and made the luxury car affordable for the masses. Further, the choice of engine used for the car was derived from a Toyota Supra, providing power to the rear wheels. All these elements ranked the Cressida high in the American luxury car segment.

Extracting the best engineering components that Toyota incorporated in the Cressida paved the way for an ultra-luxury car developed by the Japanese brand – The Lexus LS400. It was a world-class luxury sedan designed to compete against the big players. Measuring consumer confidence in the Cressida marque, Toyota cleverly launched the LS400 at exactly the right time.

The Cressida of the late '80s and the first-generation LS400 shared similar styling elements. They even had the same stance. As the LS400 was being sold alongside the Cressida, this inevitably marked the beginning of the end for the Supra-powered sedan.

In the face of the moment, Toyota decided to discontinue the Cressida in the early '90s. Would Toyota have conceived of a high-end luxury brand such as the Lexus LS400 had it not been for the success of the Cressida? Perhaps not.

RELATED: What Makes The Lexus LS400 Special

The Toyota Cressida Provided A Supra Performance

Toyota Cressida X60
Via: Shadman Samee, Wikimedia Commons - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Toyota’s decision to utilize the 2.8-liter inline six-cylinder engine, straight out of the MK3 Supra, was a smart choice. In fact, the Cressida may have seen minimal success was it not for this sporty powertrain.

The inline-six gave a 0-60 time of 8.5 seconds, which was impressive for a large luxury cruiser. Later the Cressida would inherit a 3.0-liter engine pushing power to approximately 193 HP, making it a real wolf in sheep’s clothing.

These elements of engineering lifted the Cressida out of blandness and gave it a cult following, even today, among Toyota enthusiasts.

It's A JDM Cult Classic

Toyota Cressida
Via: Jeremy, Wikimedia Commons - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

The tuning potential of the Cressida has been identified from the strong Japanese-built engines. The car has also built a cult following among drift fans in the United States.

Let’s be honest, the Cressida is not the first car that comes to mind when you think of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) cars. However, the car's blandness helps it fly under the radar, making it an ideal sleeper car. In addition, great build quality and mechanics help it withstand aggressive burnouts.

Cressida enthusiasts tend to prefer the 1JZ or the 2JZ power units as they have the ability to pump out a huge amount of power, able to withstand boost pressure. By surpassing an output of 300 HP, the Cressida can be used as an ideal track car. Finding a good Cressida, however, is no easy task, and prices are on the rise, especially for older examples. But, all in all, it is a fantastic and underrated ride.

NEXT: These Are The Best Toyota Models Ever