Original Solara Prototype

[xyntax]

Nope, this is where your knowledge is limited. The convertible is actually the first concept of the Gen1 Solara that debuted in late 97 early 98. As for the DWP Solara, that was final prototype debuted for 1999 back in 1998.

You know what's strange? On the prototype, they installed the 02 style headlights (separate hi and lo beams). And the fogs are slim and then the grill with a single bar. I dont know why they didnt make the gen 1 like that. Instead they waited for the 02 version and plugged those goodies from the protoype. Gen 1 looks different from their prototype. I wouldn't be surprised if mechanical settings they had on that prototype only showed up on the gen 1.5 versions.

[Flipside909]

Nope, this is where your knowledge is limited. The convertible is actually the first concept of the Gen1 Solara that debuted in late 97 early 98. As for the DWP Solara, that was final prototype debuted for 1999 back in 1998.

You know what's strange? On the prototype, they installed the 02 style headlights (separate hi and lo beams). And the fogs are slim and then the grill with a single bar. I dont know why they didnt make the gen 1 like that. Instead they waited for the 02 version and plugged those goodies from the protoype. Gen 1 looks different from their prototype. I wouldn't be surprised if mechanical settings they had on that prototype only showed up on the gen 1.5 versions.

The prototype convertible concept is only a clay/aluminum model made at Calty here in Newport Beach. It's engineless.

[Flipside909]

I have a couple friends that work for Ford (one in product design and one in crash test) and they tell me that all of Ford's protoype cars are stored in vaults under their manufacturing facility in MI. Apparently they have all the cars back to the original model T.

I would assume that Toyota and other manufacturer's do something similar. They probably make 5-10 prototypes, show 1-2 of them store 1-2 of them, and then crash the rest (which, BTW, they get to COMPLETELY write of their corporate taxes, so they always crash test the loaded versions of the cars).

That is correct. They keep the US test versions on the Toyota campus in Torrance. As for prototype vehicles, they're either dismantled or sent to the Toyota museum in Japan or the one locally here in SoCal.