At $6,500, Could This 1979 Toyota Cressida Turn You Into A Weekend Warrior?

There’s something a bit Mad Maxican about today’s Nice Price or No Dice Cressida wagon. Let’s see if its price tag proves equally apocalyptic.

2023 Toyota Crown: Design Details

It wasn’t the end of the world, but the $43,500 price tag on last Friday’s privately-imported 1982 BMW 323i did seem to stop us all in our tracks. As nice—and rare—as the car appeared to be, that price resulted in one of the most lopsided results we’ve ever seen, coming in at a 96 percent No Dice loss. It was truly one for the ages.

In the modern automotive era, one of the oddest manufacturer pairings is BMW and Toyota, who Wonder-twinned their strengths to create the current Supra and Z4. By my estimation, Toyota came out on top in this endeavor, as the Supra is generally seen as wilder and more iconic than the perfectly nice but blends into the background Z4.

What’s weird, though, is that Toyota needed any help in the first place. After all, the company has a long history of making killer cars like the Supra all on its own. Maybe it was to make the bean counters happy, as the Supra is a stand-alone model with limited sales potential, while previous generations could have been made profitable by sharing a lot of under-the-skirt componentry with other, more common models.

That ability to share componentry in a Lego-like fashion is a huge boon to both builders and buyers because it allows for the flexibility to create niche models and for owner upgrades that allow for the expression of personal taste and wants.

This brings us to this 1979 Toyota Cressida wagon, which has been updated with a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) 3.0-liter DOHC 6M-GE straight six and a companion five-speed manual gear change. Does that make it a Supra? No. But it does make it pretty dang neat.

The car is listed with 14,461 miles, but that’s perhaps what it has done since the engine swap since it looks like it’s led a harder life than such low miles would indicate. Regardless, the seller claims it to be mechanically excellent and boasts of its trip-ability. Looking at the rest of the car, though, it’s obvious that almost all the money invested has gone under the hood.

Overall, it’s not too bad, but the seller does note some rust intrusion at the rear of the roof along the rain gutters, and the faux wood sheeting on the sides looks like the well-worn floor of a favorite neighborhood bar. Besides that, it seems solid and has all its trim, decent chrome, and some fetching full-wheel covers.

It’s a similar vibe in the cabin. There, the carpet has been tossed, perhaps for weight savings or some sort of punk aesthetic. Everything else seems to have been kept, and there’s the addition of a big crack down the center of the dashpad. That’s to be expected in a car of this age and adds to its rough and ready appearance.

The ad does not provide information about the car’s title status and it’s not shown wearing license plates, so we can’t determine its current registration status on our own. That said, given its age, something like this isn’t going to demand full insurance coverage or likely be too hard to register, so maybe that’s a moot point.

We can then focus on both the seller’s assertion that “ With some work, this classic wagon could be your very own Family Truckster,” and the $6,500 asking price they’ve set to make it so.

What’s your take on this drivetrain-swapped wagon and that $6,500 price tag? Does that seem fair for the car as it’s been presented in the ad? Or is this just too Frankenstein’s Monster for such an asking?

You decide!

Facebook Marketplace out of Portland, Oregon, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to Bill Lyons for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at remslie@kinja.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.