At $8,500, Will This 1997 Toyota Paseo Convertible Get A Pass?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Paseo convertible was a one-and-done model only available for the ’97 model year. Let’s see if exclusivity and an excellent presentation can account for its asking price.

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Have you ever gone to help a friend move only to happily find that all the heavy stuff — couch, refrigerator, etc. — has already been transported and put in place, leaving only tasks like hanging towels and the hoisting of a couple of brewskis to celebrate a job well done? Yeah, like that ever happens. In the case of the 1998 Volvo V70 T5M we looked at yesterday, all the heavy lifting mitigating the car’s high mileage had, in fact, already had their to-do list boxes checked off. That included the rebuilding of the suspension, fitting of a new exhaust, and the refresh and upgrading of the engine. The fact that the recipient of all that work happened to be a five-speed stick-equipped station wagon was just the chef’s kiss for the car’s $8,900 asking price. That ended up with a solid 70 percent Nice Price win.

Here’s another question for you: have you ever once used the term “TIL” in your day-to-day adventures? TIL stands for “Today I Learned” and is a popular acknowledgment of information acquired parleyed on Websites like Reddit and others where people seemingly don’t get out all that much.

I think many of you might want to drag out and dust off your own personal TIL for today’s revelation that Toyota once offered a small convertible version of its Tercel-based coupe, the tiny and twee Paseo. I know! Who knew, right?

This 1997 Toyota Paseo convertible is representative of that one-year-only model and is one of just a handful — maybe a thousand cars — that were sold. This Paseo was one of three convertibles Toyota offered at the time. The other two soft tops in the lineup were the Celica and RAV 4, although, honestly, only the rear section on the latter is removable.

Today, Toyota offers exactly — checks notes — zero convertibles in its lineup. Making up for that, the company does offer something like sixty different variations on the crossover theme. This Paseo obviously hails from a more interesting time.

Toyota didn’t actually build the Paseo convertible. Instead, the company contracted out the car’s engineering and construction to ASC (American Specialty Corporation) located in California for the work. ASC received partially completed coupes from Toyota, undertaking the convertible conversion through the removal of the roof, reinforcing of the chassis, fitting of a soft top, and attachment of the adjoining plastic surround. The result is a balanced design that remarkably looks good either with the top raised or retracted into its below-the-belt well. A small boot behind that is still offered.

This one doesn’t just look good; it appears in the pictures to be in as-new condition. There are no scrapes, no curb rash, nor any fading in the bright red paint. The car also looks to be wearing new tires.

The interior presents in a similar fashion and features wonderfully kitschy ’90s upholstery and what comes across as solid Toyota build quality. The only oddity here is an aftermarket stereo that looks slightly out of place. Amenities include A/C, power windows and locks, and cruise control.

Power for the Paseo comes from a 93 horsepower 1.5 liter four, mounted transversely under the hood. That rocks the front wheels through a four-speed automatic for easy cruising and exceptional fuel economy.

A clean title and mileage totaling a mere 96,725 fill out the car’s CV, which brings us to its $8,500 asking price. That’s chump change in today’s market, and this Paseo would likely be catnip for the rabid Radwood crowd. Does that factor, however, make it a deal?

What do you say, is this seemingly new Paseo — which you just might have just learned is a thing — worth that $8,500 asking? Or nice or not, is this just too little, too late, and asking too much?

You decide!

Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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