Toyota RV-2 RV concept
The Toyota RV-2 Concept
We’ve shared an article about American car companies and their camper versions but Japan was looking at the picture as well as Toyota displayed their Toyota RV-2 concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1972.
While some concept cars are simply fiberglass shells to either gauge public reaction or just let designers have some fun, this was a complete running prototype that the company actually considered putting into production.
The design was quite clever starting life as a two-door station wagon (those were still available in 1972, although not as common as they had been in earlier decades). From there were two huge clamshell doors at the back that would swing open to create a fairly open space at the rear of the vehicle.
The front seats could recline to lay flat creating a sleeping space and there were benches along either side of the rear compartment so you could theoretically sleep four people in the RV-2. Those rear bench seats also had folding tables so you can enjoy the great indoors while also enjoying the great outdoors. If the great outdoors becomes less tolerable, simply put up the big, green tent and you’re more indoors than out.
Yes there was a big domed tent that could be installed above the folding doors creating an indoor space of sorts in the back of the RV-2.
Of course the best part is that the carpeting at the back of the car was super furry like a bear skin or equivalent. The only place I’ve seen shots of the interior were in the images shot for Penthouse Magazine and you’ll just have to do your own Google search to find those. But suffice to say that the carpet is very typically 1970s.
Yes, conservative Toyota even leant the car to Larry Flynt’s publication for a photo shoot in his magazine. Hey, they wanted exposure in the American market and they got it.
While Toyotas of the time were more known in the United States as very practical and slightly austere four-cylinder economy cars this one was far from it. Up front was an overhead-cam in-line six-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. This car had more sports car pedigree than any Toyotas American customers were used to, although the company was already building sports cars back for the home market in Japan.
While no weights are given for the car the performance pedigree indicates that it might be as much fun getting to a mountain campground as it is camping in said campground. This might be more of a boondocker’s car since there is only a table and chairs and no other camping facilities but there were plenty of aftermarket things in 1972 that were used by any of the other campers of the day. And none of those had the fun quotient of this car.
Plus the car was really kind of a big wagon, or shooting brake as they are called in some circles, so you could bring all those camping pieces that weren’t included.
1972 was a time when motorhome sales were hot in the US and lots of companies were eyeing the market. Consider the fact that, in 1973, GMC introduced its own motorhome and remains the only motorhome designed from scratch and then produced by a major car company.
Toyota had brochures printed in English and distributed in the US to gauge reaction to the concept. Obviously it never made production but it’s certainly an interesting look at the RV market in 1972, especially through the eyes of Japan’s largest car maker.
One wonders if it would have sold well at the time. Of course it would be very, very different than anything else Toyota sold in the US and that may have been one of the hurdles the company saw which prevented it from making dealer showrooms at the time.
Still, another interesting concept in RVs from back when shag rugs and green tents were a part of the RV scene.
