Bit Sloppy Methinks

"TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut" (twincharged) 09/06/2014 at 03:31 • Filed to: None

1

8

Sam > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 09/06/2014 at 03:47

0

Who said you have to be sober to run the line-painting machine?

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 09/06/2014 at 05:03

0

You need to paint a couple of "eyes" right here

1337HPMustang > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 09/06/2014 at 10:44

0

for some reason this red toyota is really spiking my interest. Love red cars and love 80s boxyness. What is it?

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > 1337HPMustang 09/06/2014 at 11:29

5

Toyota Crown Comfort. First produced in 1995 and is still in production today. Designed specifically as a taxi, it's available in SWB or LWB form, both with superior levels of rear legroom compared to competition due to its significantly short dashboard. Choice of diesel or LPG engines, auto or manual, RWD only. Available with a column shifter plus bench seats or floor shifter with individual seats, it's designed cheaply to allow for maximum profits and easy maintenance. Straight body panels are easy to replace, plastic interior tough and strong, drum brakes are cheap to source and live rear axles means you don't have to deal with irritating things like IRS. Downsides? They're about as rigid in a crash as a wet cereal packet.

Oh, and TRD also made a supercharged version. 59 were built.

1337HPMustang > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 09/06/2014 at 12:05

0

Holy crow! I think I've fallen in love with a taxi. For some reason it reminds me of crown (coinicidence?) vics with their bench seats, live rear axle and rwd. The only difference is the comfort came with manuel and diesel, which is awesome. Thanks for telling me about this car; now I'm going to visit my local importer's website and see if I can find one haha.

Also is it just the picture or is that red taxi's paint job really that nice? I can't stop staring at it. Is it a swb one? Because it looks super short and sporty.

SPNKiX > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 09/06/2014 at 12:18

0

These lines get all crooked because of the heat in the summer. That's a repaired area and the lines were originally straight. In the hot, Hong Kong summer, the inconsistencies in the repair start to flow like lava when they warm up. I also want one of those taxis. So much room in the back.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > SPNKiX 09/06/2014 at 12:22

0

It's actually the combined effort of heat and the weight of the buses that pass through the bus stop that push the tarmac out. But it's the repair work that's hilarious - they simply covered the old bump with some new tarmac which really didn't help...

Oh well, that's what happens when you hire cheap, mainland Chinese labour. The roads in Hong Kong are slowly becoming atrocious.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > 1337HPMustang 09/06/2014 at 12:29

0

I've never actually seen a manual Comfort, so I suppose it's pretty rare. And yes, it's much like the Crown Vic in its concept of design - big, simple and wallowy, except the Toyota has acres more rear legroom.

And no, it's a LWB (2,785mm), those are the only ones that are imported into HK as far as I know. The paintjob looks new because the taxi is relatively new - I'd give it one year max. It's one of the newer models with bigger rims and a floor shifter, hence the 4 passengers sign (excluding the driver) marked on the bumper. It also has electric rear windows!

Oh, and did I mention that they have a self-opening and closing rear left door?

This is a Japanese Crown Comfort SWB (which incidentally is also built with a much nicer interior and soundproofing) with its automatic door in action. You can't see it, but there's an arm near the base of the door, which opens and closes the door for you. This is so you don't get your fingerprints all over the nice chrome handles.

In Japan, they will actively open and close the doors for you - some are even marked with LEDs so you can clearly see taxis that are open for business. In Hong Kong, not so much. Taxi drivers are far ruder here.