A rare behind the scenes tour of Toyota UK’s hidden heritage fleet packed with icons, oddities and unforgettable automotive treasures
Some days in this job make you grin like a kid who has just found the secret stash of sweets hidden away for Eid. My visit to the Toyota Media Experience Centre in Crawley did exactly that. I walked in expecting a few classics tucked into a corner. What I found was a warehouse of wonders containing everything from a Lexus LFA to an Corona time capsule to a Prius that survived a cross continental rally.
This is not a museum. This is not a showroom. This is the place where Toyota UK hides its press fleet and the heritage gems it loves too much to let go. Happily, they let me in with a camera and Mike, Senior Technician, kindly gave me a guided tour. And if you’re wondering why there’s no pictures, it’s because I was too excited and forgot to take any! You’ll just have to watch the video above. Then tell me a) which Toyota icons are missing from their heritage fleet and if b) if you’d like to see me review any of these?
The GR Yaris That Started It All
We begin with a GR Yaris in pearl white. Not just any GR Yaris. This was Toyota UK’s original press car, the very one splashed across magazine covers when the little hot hatch took the world by storm. If you have ever seen those early reviews and wondered where that exact car ended up, wonder no more. It is here, alive, immaculate and appreciated.
The Lexus F Trio: IS F, GS F and RC F
Move deeper into the workshop and the atmosphere shifts from rally ready rascal to Autobahn assassin. Here sits a trio of underappreciated heroes: IS F, GS F and RC F.
The IS F, of course, was Lexus’s early brush with V8 hooliganism. It proved the Japanese could build a muscle saloon with manners. The GS F refined the recipe with better balance. The RC F? One of the most underrated performance coupes of the last decade. I have always liked it and continue to defend it. Even filmed a burnout sequence with one in Dubai. It did not give up its traction systems easily. The engineers had buried the full defeat sequence behind a ritual worthy of Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code.
The Tattooed Lexus UX
Then comes the car nobody asks for but everybody photographs. The Lexus UX Tattoo Car. Created by a real tattoo artist who cut artwork into the metal. This is not a wrap or a clever paintjob. It is engraved. A full bodied ink session in automotive form. It was meant to tour events pre Covid, but the world shut down before it could enjoy celebrity status. Now it sits here, waiting for its encore.
GT86 and GR86: Side by Side
Placed just right for comparison are the GT86 and its successor, the GR86. Subtle styling differences jump out when they sit next to each other. For example, the old car’s side moulding with the 86 badge is gone entirely on the new one. Pure Toyota geek fuel.
1993 Toyota Carina: The Uncle Whisperer
Nothing in the entire building stimulated instant nostalgia like the 1993 Toyota Carina. Low mileage, original and immaculate. The kind of car that transports you directly to a time when your uncle insisted this, not the Vauxhall Cavalier, was the right choice (he was right).
It is a proper time warp. Open the door and you can almost hear a cassette tape clicking into place. You can feel the fabric of school trousers on vinyl seats. You can smell the 90s. Magic.
MR2 Mk1 and Mk2: The Mid Engined Masters
The Mk1 MR2 is exactly what it should be: 16 valve badge, pop up headlights, red line buzziness and unbreakable Toyota build quality. Beautifully preserved, beautifully original and shockingly crisp.
The Mk2 sits alongside it like the grown up older brother who still sneaks out at night. It has had little more than tyres and servicing. The interior is a delightful slice of 90s futurism with square pods and angular shapes. A reminder of a time when every designer tried to reinvent the dashboard.
These are the real poor man’s Ferraris and they wear the reputation with pride.
Toyota Century: The Emperor’s Carriage
The Toyota Century parked here is not Toyota’s own example, but it absolutely steals the room. A V12! The cabin cocoons you with aristocratic ease. This is not a luxury car. This is a travelling state room.
Centuries are now becoming cult classics at UK shows. Once reserved for statesmen and captains of industry, they are now turning up at Cars and Coffee to taunt Daimler owners.
The Prius That Went Rallying
This one made me laugh out loud. A Prius. Yes, a Prius. The hybrid hero that built its reputation on thrift and tranquillity. Except this full caged rally spec version crossed northern Sweden, threaded through Romania, crashed in the Czech Republic and finished a 5,000 mile rally ending in Jordan.
It still runs. It still moves. It still proves Toyota’s favourite point: reliability is not a promise. It is a habit.
The Original RAV4
The first generation RAV4 is here too, fully restored. Compact, lively and refreshingly small. Park it next to the modern giant and it looks like a hatchback on tiptoes. Yet it reminds you how capable and fun these little SUVs were. Back when simple suspension met short wheelbase and created unexpected joy.
The Toyota Aygo with an MR2 Heart
Easily the maddest machine in the room. A Toyota Aygo converted by Roger Dawson Engineering with a turbocharged Mk3 MR2 engine mounted in the back. A proper Frankenstein creation. Wider tyres, mid engined layout, boosted power and the vibe of a mischievous terrier ready to nip your ankles.
If the engineers built it as a publicity stunt for the Aygo launch, it worked. What a thing!
AE86 BTCC Replica
A lovingly assembled replica of the 1986 to 1987 British Touring Car Championship AE86. Built by a race shop, not Toyota. An absolute slice of retro motorsport theatre. If this had rolled straight out of a VHS tape labelled Touring Car Legends, nobody would blink.
The 1965 Toyota Corona: £777 of History
The oldest and perhaps most charming car in the collection is the original 1965 Toyota Corona. Fully restored about two decades ago, and still gloriously fresh. Everything works. Everything feels surprisingly modern for a mid 60s saloon.
Here is the fact that floored me. When this car was brand new it cost £777. This feels like the punchline in a joke about inflation. Today that would buy you a couple of tyres and a coffee. Maybe.
Sit inside it and the aroma of old oils, well used metal and early Toyota craftsmanship hits you instantly. It is brilliant.
The Top Gear Arctic Hilux
Yes. They really have it. The very Hilux from the legendary Arctic adventures on Top Gear, or one of the trucks used in that production. I photographed one in Dubai years ago and I am convinced it was either this truck or its sibling. Seeing it again was like bumping into a celebrity you once got a selfie with at the petrol station.
The bodywork still wears the attitude of a vehicle that knows extreme temperatures cannot kill it.
Toyota’s Alladin Cave
Toyota did not just store cars here. They preserved history, nostalgia, engineering daring and the kind of mischief that makes car culture brilliant. This is not a collection of polished museum pieces. This is a living fleet of stories.
A huge thank you to the team at the Media Experience Centre for letting me explore it all.
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