Toyota Mark II Blit

The Toyota Mark II Blit was the replacement of the Toyota Mark II Qualis, and shared a platform with the Mark II rear wheel drive sedan. The Mark II Qualis was a rebadged (SXV20) Camry Gracia wagon, with front wheel drive. The Blit was introduced January 2002 after the Crown Estate and Caldina wagons ended production starting June 2007 due to consolidation efforts. Toyota's official Blit successor was a front wheel drive minivan, the Mark X Zio, from September, 2007. The Blit was a return to the Mark II platform with rear wheel drive with optional AWD and not a wagon version of the front wheel drive Camry. The Blit used straight-6 engines with an optional turbo that was discontinued May 2006. The engines used were the 2.0 L 1G-FE, 2.5 L 1JZ-FSE, 2.5 L 1JZ-GE, and 2.5 L turbocharged 1JZ-GTE.

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References

Toyota Mark II

The Toyota Mark II is a mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed in Japan by Toyota between 1968 and 2004. In export markets, the Toyota marketed the vehicle as the Toyota Cressida between 1976 and 1992 across four generations as Toyota's flagship sedan. Toyota replaced the Cressida in North America with the Toyota Avalon.

All Mark II's and Cressidas were manufactured at the Motomachi Plant at Toyota, Aichi. The nameplate Cressida derives from the female Trojan character.

History

The first series, called the Toyota Corona Mark II was an all new vehicle at its introduction in 1968, that sought to offer a car that was just under Japanese government regulations concerning maximum vehicle dimensions and engine displacement, thus allowing the Crown to grow larger and more luxurious. Using the established platform of the Corona sedan but slightly larger and wider, it was exclusive to Toyopet Store locations, and offered as a competitor to the newly introduced Nissan Laurel in Japan, and the Nissan Bluebird / Datsun 510 internationally that appeared August 1967, and two years after the Mazda Luce in 1966.