Toyota Chaser (1st gen) X30/X40 1977-1980

The Toyota Chaser is a mid-size car produced by Toyota in Japan. Most Chasers are four-door sedans and hardtop sedans; a two-door hardtop coupé was available on the first generation only. It was introduced on the 1976 Toyota Corona Mark II platform, and was sold new by Toyota at Toyota Vista Store dealerships only in Japan, together with the Toyota Cresta.

The Toyota Chaser has been known as one of the 'triplet sedans' of Toyota, because it shares the same chassis with the Toyota Cressida/Mark II, and the Cresta, and afforded Toyota the opportunity to sell one platform at several different dealership sales channels. Most of the models use double wishbone suspension with coil springs, especially beginning with the X81 series. The Chaser and its platform sisters are considered a rung below the Crown, allowing Toyota to offer a sedan with similar levels of luxury content, yet offering buyers lower tax liability and a more sporty image with a slightly smaller body length.

[B]1st Generation (X30, X40; 1977–1980)[/B]
The Chaser was first produced in July 1977 with chassis codes X30, X31, X40 and X41. They were powered by the four-cylinder 1.8-liter 3T-U and 2-liter 18R-U, and the six-cylinder 2.0 L M-U/M-EU engines – all single cam engines tuned for economy and clean emissions rather than performance. The Chaser is a lightly redesigned Toyota Mark II, with a wider front grille and without parking lights. The Chaser also has taillights of a different design.[5] Unlike the Mark II, there were no station wagons or commercial models offered.

In order to provide buyers with a luxury sports sedan, but not incur tax consequences for exceeding dimension regulations, the vehicle was limited to an engine size at 2000 cc as well as dimensions under 4.7 m (15.4 ft) long, 1.7 m (5.6 ft) wide, and 2 m (6.6 ft) high. Engine displacements of 1.8 L and 2.0 L were offered to keep the annual road tax bill affordable to Japanese buyers. The Chaser was offered as a competitor to the Nissan Skyline coupé and sedan. The performance image was shared with the Toyota Celica Camry, also introduced at the same time, but at a different Japanese dealership called Toyota Corolla Store.

[SIZE=1]Source: Wikipedia[/SIZE]