The wagons we all know, love and grew up with gradually fell out of favor as the minivan took hold in the '80s. Led by Chrysler's practical little boxes, the van became the king of Mt. People Mover, only to be usurped by the SUV, which took the wagon formula and added a heaping dose of machismo. The wagons have all but vanished, and today, both SUVs and minivans resemble Hollywood stars whose salad days are clearly behind them.

The so-called "crossover" is the new king, at least according to marketers who coined the maddeningly broad term, which now applies to everything from large, car-based pseudo-SUVs to what are – by all rights – traditional wagons, albeit with tall roofs and occasionally all-wheel drive. When Toyota elected to make the Highlander a substantially larger vehicle with three rows of seating, it left a void in its line-up for people seeking a utilitarian five-seater. The lack of a Camry wagon, which has been dead for ages, meant there was an opportunity for Toyota to fill-in the blank with something to compete against the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and rest of the CUV set. And so we have the Venza.



All photos Copyright ©2009 Alex Nunez / Weblogs, Inc.

There's a workout regimen called Crossfit that aims to increase one's abilities in eight different areas. Crossfit doesn't reward the specialist, it rewards the well-rounded; it doesn't create marathoners, it creates decathletes. The point of Crossfit is to allow you to enter any situation with the confidence that you have things like the agility, strength and conditioning to do well. The Toyota Venza has the same ethos: pitched as 70-percent car, 30-percent SUV, the Venza wants to do everything well. And when we say "well", we mean it wants to do everything better than the competition: 10,000 people were leaving Toyota every year to get into something between the Camry and the Highlander, things that ended up being the Ford Edge, Mazda CX-7 and Infiniti FX. The Venza is Toyota's request to those buyers to "Come back to papa." Follow the jump to find out whether you should heed the call.


Photos copyright ©2008 Jonathon Ramsey/Weblogs, Inc.

It's been almost a year since Toyota debuted its new Venza crossover at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, and we've heard nary a peep since. With the launch of the V6 model only a month away, though, we've finally received pricing info. The rather ungainly looking Venza will start at $25,975 with Toyota's new 2.7L four-cylinder engine and front-wheel-drive, and top out at $29,250 for the 3.5L V6 model with AWD. This makes the Venza's pricing very close to its competition from Nissan and Ford, though Toyota's model is the only one available with a four-cylinder engine.

Standard features on the Venza include traction and stability control plus plenty of safety features, and the options list looks like it came straight from Lexus. Some of the dollar figures on those options are Lexus-like, as well. DVD Navigation with upscale JBL sound will set you back $2,590, and just the upgraded stereo will cost an additional $1,090. Toyota also offers four levels of luxury packaging ranging from $1,600 for leather seats to $4,345 for a package with leather, HID headlights, mahogany wood finishes and heated mirrors. For full pricing info, check out Toyota's official press release after the jump.


[Source: Toyota]

Click image for a high-res gallery of the Toyota Venza

Toyota just unveiled the Venza "crossover sedan," which is really another name for, you know, "crossover." With the Nissan Murano and Ford Edge obviously in its sights, the 5-passenger Venza neatly and stylishly fills the void left when the Highlander grew a third row and got bigger. Powered by either a 268-horsepower V6 or a 2.7L four-banger, the North America-designed and built Venza will be sold as a single trim level vehicle. The primary differences are that the six gets dual exhausts and 20-inch wheels, while the 2.7L has a single outlet and 19-inchers. Both engines are connected to a six-speed automatic with sequential shift, and the V6 has a towing capacity of 3,500 pounds, which exactly matches that of the Ford Edge and the current Nissan Murano. The front end clearly communicates Toyota's current styling themes while being Edgelike in its bright, large grille, and headlights that arc out towards the fenders. Inside, the Venza has an upscale, airy cockpit with niceties like contrast-piped leather seats. Storage is typical for vehicles in this class, and like its main competitors, it offers a panoramic glass roof. Pricing is to be announced, but if past performance is any indication, we expect to see a lot of Venzas filled with families on the road before long.

UPDATE: live video of the unveiling of the Toyota Venza is available after the jump.

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza LIVE

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Gallery: 2009 Toyota Venza

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Toyota's presence at the Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) will be punctuated by what the automaker is calling a "crossover sedan" that incorporates elements of both a sedan and an SUV. The U.S.-designed and engineered 2009 Toyota Venza will seat five and be built alongside the Camry, Avalon and Solara at ToMoCo's plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. That pretty much means it's a go for production despite never having been glimpsed by the public.

The idea of a "crossover sedan" may just mean that the Venza is a jacked-up Camry, but we'd suspect that this new model would take aim at Ford's Edge and possibly GM's line of Lambda-based CUVs, with car underpinnings and a hatch. In fact, it sounds similar in form to the upcoming BMW X6. Failing that, we're picturing a Toyota version of the AMC Eagle (shown above), which would certainly open up yet another niche into the market.

[Source: Toyota]