Into the void left by the disappearance of the Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari small vans have come the Ford Transit Connect and Nissan NV200 van. Now Toyota wants a piece of that market, gauging interest with a distinctive concept van that, with its apparently retractable roof section, reminds us of the Studebaker Wagonaire of 50 years ago.
The concept vanlet was designed at the company’s Calty studio in Newport Beach, California, and according to a statement released by Toyota this week it will make a public debut in New York later this month.
The sliding roof idea was not limited to Studebaker. More recently, GM offered a variant of its GMC Envoy, dubbed the XUV, that had both a sliding rear roof section and a “midgate” as seen on the larger Chevy Avalanche. While the Avalanche was a strong seller for GM, neither the Envoy XUV nor the Studebaker Wagonaire could be considered success stories.
Will Toyota’s variation on the theme, skewed toward the commercial market, change the story?