Toyota Funcruiser (1995) – Enthusiast Wanted

Toyota introduced the RAV4 to the public in 1989 at the Tokyo Motor Show. ‘RAV’ stands for ‘Recreational Active Vehicle’ and the number 4 for four-wheel drive. Thanks to its round headlights and vertical bars as a grille, the concept car resembled the face of a Jeep. For the production version of the first generation RAV4, Toyota eventually went a bit more conservative, with a rectangular grille and ditto headlights. The RAV4 first came on the market in 1994 as a three-door. The five-door followed a year later. In the Netherlands, the first generation RAV4 was named Funcruiser, the five-door was called Funcruiser Wagon. From the second generation, the SUV was simply called RAV4 in our country.

The idea of ​​the Funcruiser was to combine the driving characteristics of a passenger car with the appearance and off-road capabilities of an off-road vehicle. In any case, in terms of appearance, it succeeded. The Funcruiser stands high on its wheels and has plastic bumpers all around. In addition, this copy also has a bullbar at the front and a spare wheel at the back. Because of the black C-pillars and eaves above the side window and rear window, it almost looks like the Funcruiser has a soft top, but that version was only available from 1998. Instead, it has two tilting roofs that you can open manually.

Toyota Funcruiser

To allow the Funcruiser to keep up with traffic, there is a 129 hp 2.0 four-cylinder engine under the hood. This power source means that the Funcruiser can reach 100 km/h in 10.1 seconds with a little pedaling and only gets out of breath at 170 km/h. Today these are not really impressive numbers, but in the 1990s the Funcruiser was above average fast for the type of car. Thanks to four-wheel drive with a lockable mechanical lock on the central differential and an increased ground clearance, you will probably come a long way in the terrain, but the Funcruiser is not an off-road vehicle pur sang. That would not benefit the driving characteristics on asphalt.

This example is for sale for €3,995 and has covered 176,269 kilometers. That doesn’t make it a bargain in terms of price and mileage, but this Funcruiser still looks pretty neat. It was originally delivered in the Netherlands in 1995 and has had four private owners since then. It is a Funcruiser SR, so that means that in addition to the two sunroofs, it also has electrically operated side windows, electrically adjustable mirrors, adjustable dashboard lighting, central door locking and ABS. Will you give him a new home?

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