Toyota Solara Convertible Preview
Toyota will bring the latest version of its Camry Solara convertible to market this spring, and it says a lot about the Japanese firm that it's most excited about the way it's building this version of the Solara coupe's sibling.
''For the first time ever,'' says Don Esmond, the senior vice-president and general manager of Toyota in the U.S., ''the Solara convertible has a wholly dedicated convertible body. It is a body styled as fore-thought, not an after-thought.''
Toyota's manufacturing process at the plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, ''allows the convertible to be produced in low volumes and with exceptional quality,'' Esmond says, and that of course is the word that Toyota likes to use the most.
Traditionally, a company designs a two-door coupe and then cuts the top off to make the convertible, but that wouldn't do for Toyota. Edmonds says the vehicle ''has been designed as a convertible from its conception, a process that ensures no compromises with design, performance or quality.''
The body may be unique to the convertible, but the body panels and the mechanical bits look exactly like the Solara coupe's.
''Distinguished by a power retractable convertible roof, headliner and rear glass window, the new model shares the same sleek, exterior design, roomy and luxurious interior, and sporty performance as the Solara coupe,'' is the way Edmonds puts it.
Sleek and luxurious and sporty the Solara convertible may be, but Esmond really wants you to know more about that unique body.
''The Solara Convertible's specially MIG welded frame and thick body panels accommodate the top stack while providing a much higher degree of stiffness, safety, quality, dependability and reliability,'' he explains
''Reinforcements have been optimally allocated throughout the vehicle to provide significantly higher torsional rigidity resulting in an improved ride, better handling, diminished road and wind noise and increased durability,'' Edmonds says.
Solara convertible will come in two trims -- SE, with a sporty metallic-finish interior trim, and SLE, with greater content and a woodgrain-style interior trim.
The Solara ragtop has ''a rakish profile and spacious passenger room,'' and ''the ample proportions project a substantial, road-hugging stance.''
Toyota will bring the latest version of its Camry Solara convertible to market this spring, and it says a lot about the Japanese firm that it's most excited about the way it's building this version of the Solara coupe's sibling.
''For the first time ever,'' says Don Esmond, the senior vice-president and general manager of Toyota in the U.S., ''the Solara convertible has a wholly dedicated convertible body. It is a body styled as fore-thought, not an after-thought.''
Toyota's manufacturing process at the plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, ''allows the convertible to be produced in low volumes and with exceptional quality,'' Esmond says, and that of course is the word that Toyota likes to use the most.
Traditionally, a company designs a two-door coupe and then cuts the top off to make the convertible, but that wouldn't do for Toyota. Edmonds says the vehicle ''has been designed as a convertible from its conception, a process that ensures no compromises with design, performance or quality.''
The body may be unique to the convertible, but the body panels and the mechanical bits look exactly like the Solara coupe's.
''Distinguished by a power retractable convertible roof, headliner and rear glass window, the new model shares the same sleek, exterior design, roomy and luxurious interior, and sporty performance as the Solara coupe,'' is the way Edmonds puts it.
Sleek and luxurious and sporty the Solara convertible may be, but Esmond really wants you to know more about that unique body.
''The Solara Convertible's specially MIG welded frame and thick body panels accommodate the top stack while providing a much higher degree of stiffness, safety, quality, dependability and reliability,'' he explains
''Reinforcements have been optimally allocated throughout the vehicle to provide significantly higher torsional rigidity resulting in an improved ride, better handling, diminished road and wind noise and increased durability,'' Edmonds says.
Solara convertible will come in two trims -- SE, with a sporty metallic-finish interior trim, and SLE, with greater content and a woodgrain-style interior trim.
The Solara ragtop has ''a rakish profile and spacious passenger room,'' and ''the ample proportions project a substantial, road-hugging stance.''