The UK Toyota dealership has probably always been home to those rightly ardent petrolheads. Just think of the magical go- kart Aygo Crazy with a supercharged eighteen-seater instead of rear seats and a large bodykit to go with it. However, the miniature hatchback from Cologne was not the first project of the British dealership. A six-seater MPV with an engine from the legendary Toyota Celica GT-Four was revealed much earlier.
The silver 1996 Toyota Picnic began life as the company car of John Brooks, manager of the UK fleet of press cars. Under the hood, you would find a 128-horsepower two-liter four-cylinder , with which the six-seater MPV "shoots" to 100 km/h in a not-so-interesting 11.2 seconds. As is usual with company cars, after some time the Picnic reached its peak and was to be replaced by a more modern model of the Japanese brand. However, Brooks had a crazy idea instead. And believe me, I mean the word crazy in a positive sense!
After a short evaluation of all the pros and cons, the silver Picnic moved to the workshop, where the experts removed the weak two-liter from it and replaced it without further ado with the legendary turbocharged two-liter of the 3S-GTE series , with a remapped control unit, with an output of 213 hp at 6000 rpm with torque of 305 Nm at 4000 rpm. This is how the Picnic Sport Turbo was born, with a maximum speed of 193 km/h and acceleration to 100 km/h in an impressive 7.5 seconds. The lowered chassis is ably seconded by a tuned sports exhaust and a better clutch, the front wheel remains driven via a five-speed manual. Looking at the bodywork, however, the sporty MPV could be evaluated as an almost perfect sleeper . If you don't really focus on details such as slightly flared fenders and subtle wings on the sides of the front bumper, then the only change was the installation of 17- inch alloy wheels from the rare Camry V6 Sport sedan. Inside, the dull and boring gray cloth upholstery was replaced with red leather not only on the seats, but also in the door panels and on the steering wheel. Otherwise, however, the interior, perhaps except for the turbo pressure indicator, also remained completely standard.
For the next few years, the Picnic Sport Turbo became part of Toyota's fleet and appeared from time to time at the presentation of some new model of the brand. For example, in 1999 it appeared as an accompanying car at the presentation of the new Luxus IS 200 , and journalists were even given the opportunity to test it briefly. Shortly after this event, the unusual MPV was sold to an Irish dealer , who used it as a support car in local rally events. Sometime around this time the engine piston broke and the turbo only worked at full pressure. The worse news, however, was the loss of rare wheels from a Toyota Camry.
However, every such story was created to have a happy ending. A wrecked Picnic Turbo appeared among cars for sale in 2012, and what the hell, one of the Toyota employees noticed it. PR and social media manager Scott Brownlee bought the car, had it repaired and put it back in the British dealership's collections. During the repairs, the car received not only a new piston, but also 17-inch Team Dynamics wheels . Now the car is up for sale again, but in the name of a good cause! The entire proceeds from the auction on the Pistonheads website will go to the account of the Comic Relief charity organization, which you may also know because of its characteristic red noses. The auction ends on March 13.
Source: Toyota, blog.toyota.co.uk, pistonheads.com
