By Steve & Tamami Laser
While Toyota offers more than a dozen different varieties of vans in Japan, the longest-running of them all is the Hiace. To help celebrate its 50th anniversary, a special version has gone on sale in Japan dubbed “Relaxbase.”
Customized by Toyota Modellista and offered as a complete vehicle through Toyopet dealers, Hiace Relaxbase is designed to be a “Neo-Retro Fun Box” for the personal use market. In other words, it’s a van conversion aimed at customers with active lifestyles. Cool retro styling touches include a front “grille” with black-out decal and special “Toyota” script.
Relaxbase starts out as a Hiace passenger van and adds two-tone exterior trim plus special body colors to enhance the retro style. Front and rear bumpers, fender moldings, foglight covers, and lower garnishes are painted white. A matching roof rack and rear ladder are also included.
“Relaxbase” decals are applied to the exterior while 15-inch alloy wheels dressed with retro-style white trim and matching hubcaps add to the ambience. Exterior color choices include Light Yellow, Dark Blue Mica, and Gray Metallic.
The fun continues inside with special two-tone upholstery applied to the front buckets and second-row folding bench seat. Relaxbase is offered as a Hiace S-GL model with Type I and Type II versions.
Special light wood-tone trim has been added to the dash and door panels while other upgrades include aluminum door scuff plates.
Type II includes a matching light-tone hard PVC rear floor cover. A rear quarter-mounted auxiliary battery and storage box is also available as well as a dealer-installed fold-out bed. Customers in Japan can select gas or diesel engines with 2WD or 4WD.
Features and specifications apply to models sold in Japan and are subject to change without notice
News source and photos courtesy of Toyota Motor Corp., Toyota Modellista International Co. Ltd., and Toyota Customizing & Development Co., Ltd.
Story (commentary) © 2018 CarNichiWa.com