Carmall.com - The evolution of the soap box

From a historical perspective, the Toyota Kijang actually started as a pick-up (first generation, 1977-1980) with a rather boxy shape, thus sometimes referred to as the soap box.

Then came the "Kijang Buaya", although alongside some doubts of success, as the mini bus market at the time was heavily tilted to the Mitsubishi Colt.

But with the steady increase in demands came an increasingly convinced Toyota in continuing to make them, hence the new and improved second generation Kijang (1981-1985) was launched.

Toyota then decided on a major shift in concept for the Kijang, revising it from a vehicle for general transporting to a vehicle for passengers.

1986-1997 became the glory days of the Kijang as a passenger vehicle, as two models from its third generation, the Kijang Super and Kijang Grand, were the toppers of the consumers' list at the time.