The fourth generation Toyota Cressida (MX83 ) was made from 1988 until 1995 with a facelift in 1990. Our Beijing car is a post-facelift example. The MX83 Cressida was based on the sixth generation Toyota Mark II (X80).
Design was simple yet elegant, almost timeless, with a typical sedan shape and a almost perfect proportions. Even now it still looks modern. A very cool detail of the Cressida were the standard mud flaps front and rear.
The interior was in a decidedly worse shape than the exterior. Large parts of the trim were missing and the whole cabin looked dirty. Oddly, the leather seats seemed to be in a fine shape.
The Toyota Cressida sedan was available with a long list of engines, ranging from a 1.8 four to a 3.0 six-in-line. Sadly, the car I met in Beijing had no engine tags so I can’t be sure what was under the bonnet. License plates are of Liaoning Province. The Toyota Cressida was not officially sold in China but quite a few cars arrived via the gray market and diplomatic channels.