The Sunday News
Lovert Mafukure
Toyota’s automotive rhetoric got me itching to look into more of the WiLL series. The WiLL Vi wasn’t the only odd one, the line-up included the WiLL Vs which is less odd and the WiLL Vc which is like the Vi reincarnate, it brought all that odd beauty back tenfold. Ultimately not all these cars were much of a success, which saw them being cut out of the production line prematurely. The WiLL Vs however, had more appeal and better response that the other alien looking automobiles.
The WiLL Vs is the bigger and more luxurious four-door hatch with a dramatic aviation inspired interior and exterior. It took a lot of imagination from automotive designers whom I believe thought the world was coming to an end . . . I don’t believe they thought they’d live to see their cars ever produced in the new millennium. These are the type of cars that don’t make it any easier for a baby to stop crying. I mean, they are not that comforting.
This experiment just like the WiLL Vi was a collaboration between Toyota, Panasonic and other companies that focused on the younger demographic sector. The idea behind it all was to launch a line of products specifically for the young, trendy, youthful people. A host of other products were produced under the WiLL name tag namely fridges, vacuum cleaners, fax machines, WiLL collapsible bikes and other household items meant to appeal to a freakish adolescent culture. Such unusual designs were meant to appeal to the young while boosting sales figures by giving the youth something they may “like”. The turn of the century however, didn’t turn out with more of the freakish natured youth.
The Will Vs is a little less odd when compared to the WiLL Vi. When you first look at it however, you will see its oddness, that of an alien UFO that has landed from the distant galaxies, It still looks like it houses an electric motor instead of an engine but again it does have a normal engine, same as the one you find on the Toyota Allex or RunX. It was actually made on the same platform as the Toyota Allex. It comes with a 1NZ Fe Engine which is 1500cc or a more powerful 1zz engine which is 1800cc. It uses the same 4 speed automatic transmission again, same as the one found in the Toyota Allex. A six-speed manual variant was also available to take you to outer space. The engine is transversely mounted and power is transferred to the front wheels.
There is a top of the range version WiLL VSs which has a 2zz GE engine and sports suspension. This version is brutal as you may know that Toyota’s GE engines are performance engines and are made to impress with power. You get the six-speed manual on this one or a tiptronic gearbox. Finding these is rare and records allege only 4 000 of them were ever made. That makes the Will VS a somewhat special car.
Besides the odd looks, the car is basically an anomalous version of the Toyota Allex. Expect Toyota’s standard on reliability on almost everything.
The engines, transmission and suspension spares are all the same as the Toyota Allex. It’s therefore not much of a hassle to get parts for this Alien machine as long as they are not body parts.
Some say its design was inspired by the 50 million dollar Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter jet. It sure does look like it. Till Next Time . . . Happy motoring folks!
