Heritage Collections: 1996 Toyota RAV4
Initial feedback of these dives into specific models found in various and sundry automaker museum collections around the globe has not been overly positive. However, this writer has amassed documentation of this sort for at least the next two galleries, so yer stuck with this topic for another couple of days. You’ll live.
To the delight of historians and geeky car types like your author, many of the world’s automakers have curated a collection of vehicles considered to be important to the brand heritage. Some of these assemblies sprang into existence not because of a company’s desire to preserve and document its history but in spite of it while others saw the value of hanging on to key company touchstones early in the game.
[Images: The Author]
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These thoughts were at the fore last week while browsing the incredible collection amassed by the curators of Ford’s heritage fleet in a relatively short time; this effort was thanks in no small part to Jim Farley who is said to have put the word out a couple of years ago that the brand’s American arm should have collections like its divisions in places like the UK and Oz.
What do other automakers have in their cupboard? Most of this week’s galleries of this ilk are going to focus on a neat vehicle currently on the books and in the care of a car company as part of its heritage collection. We’ll use that term generically since most brands seem to have enjoyed creating distinct names for their own collection, not unlike when Detroit was busy trying to beat each other over the head back in the day by creating a ‘moonroof’ to compete with a ‘sunroof’. Marketing - amirite?
If the Ford Explorer popularized the notion of having a four-wheel drive SUV as a family rig, then the 1996 Toyota RAV4 brought compounded the idea tenfold. Served up by a brand trusted for bulletproof cars which retained their value, the RAV packed a truly carlike interior blended with a taller ride height and all-wheel drive.
The lack of a rear bumper raised some eyebrows in the insurance industry the time but Toyota got it past the feds; this only a relatively short time after the scourge of ugly 5 mph bumpers being tacked onto sultry cars like the Z or, really, any other member of the Datsun lineup.
The little RAV sold like hotcakes, available in gonzo colors and upholstery patterns as was the style at the time. Most of the ones in our neck of the woods were that burgundy-ish Prussian Red, though the one shown here from Toyota’s collection is Confetti Blue. Four real doors appealed to families while the two-door variant with its diminutive wheelbase attracted a customer who may have not otherwise set foot in a Toyota showroom.
Under the hood was a 2.0-liter four-banger making 120 horsepower, good enough for the day, available with either a five-speed stick or family-friendly automatic. Toss in a familiar dealer experience and good juju cultivated from cars like the Corolla and Camry - not to mention trucks like the pickup and 4Runner - and we shouldn’t be surprised Toyota has a ‘96 RAV in its collection.
