(EXPANDED FROM 10/25/2021)
The above photograph shows the beginning of Toyota’s embrace of sci-fi styling. In the foreground, the second-generation Sienna minivan (which was produced from 2003 to 2009) had simple but attractive styling (Wikipedia, 20121a).
In the background was a Venza, which was produced for the U.S. market from the 2008 to 2015 model years (Wikipedia, 2025b). Even from afar you can see such a sharp stylistic shift that one might initially wonder if these cars were from different automakers. Yet this change in design philosophy occurred within only five years.
Say goodbye to Toyota’s neat-and-tidy styling
The Venza’s designers were apparently intent upon hiding the sport-utility vehicle’s boxiness by distracting us with all manner of character lines and curves.
Consider the upper corners of the tail lights: They had a cartoonish quality that reminds me of a 1961 Dodge’s elbow-shaped fins, which housed anti-aircraft missiles disguised as tail lights.
Meanwhile, the center of the Venza’s liftgate had a horizontal ridge whose only purpose I can imagine was to hold beer cans.
If that wasn’t enough to elicit double takes, the massive D-pillar was visually relieved by sheetmetal sculpting (a good idea), but it inexplicably looped back into a beltline crease (a bad idea).
The front end of the Venza looked more normal . . . at least if you ignored the weird, third-eye logo protruding from the center of the fascia.
Another odd touch was the sculpting around the front wheels, which looked tacked on and ponderous. But then the sculpting around the back wheels looked even more more so.
The overall vibe was that of a car designed by a committee of unsupervised 15-year-old boys. Why did Toyota settle on such an adolescent look for what was essentially a glorified Camry tall wagon?
Were Toyota designers inspired by Virgil Exner?
The Venza looks like an homage to Virgil Exner, the flamboyant chief stylist for Chrysler in the late-50s and early-60s. After all those years of mimicking European designers, Toyota began to break free from its chains. That meant abandoning a relatively clean look that the automaker first began developing in the 1970s.
Whereas the Sienna represented Toyota’s “boring” old past, the Venza pointed to the automaker’s exciting future of sci-fi zaniness. And as we have discussed (go here and here), Toyota went all the way to outer space to find the talent they needed to take the automaker’s styling to a whole new level.
The Toyota Venza was an important turning point in American automotive design. Once again car buyers were able to experience stylistic exuberance not seen since the heady days of the early-60s. Interestingly, Toyota’s creations have tended to sell much better than Exner’s.
This raises an important question: Have consumer attitudes changed over the last half century? Or might we now have space aliens secretly living amongst us? Given the current public concern about illegal immigration, I would think that the feds would want to launch an investigation.
NOTES:
This story was originally posted April 10, 2014 and expanded on October 25, 2021 and April 14, 2025.
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RE:SOURCES
- Wikipedia; 2025a. “Toyota Sienna.” Page last edited April 12.
- ——; 2025b. “Toyota Venza.” Page last edited March 21.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcarbrochures.org: Dodge (1961)
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Circa 2012 Toyota Venza: Photo by IFCAR via Wikipedia; public domain.
I knew I liked the Venza for some reason.
Now I understand.