From SUV To Stretch: Inside Toyota’s Unusual RAV4 Limo Project – SlashGear

Toyota, the developer of SUVs like the (now returning) Land Cruiser, has to know what SUV customers are looking for. Generally speaking, versatility and roominess are two significant bonuses of this type of vehicle, and nothing screams both of those virtues quite as effectively as a stretch limo and SUV mash-up.

A worker at the Takuoka plant told the YouTube channel クルマ業界女子部チャンネル in a 2020 translated interview in the clip above that “we built this manually without any drawings,” and to mess with the core body of the original RAV4 as little as possible, the reportedly 200-strong team lengthened the center of the SUV. The welded metal for this vehicle section was designed to be as sturdy as possible, another Toyota employee told the visiting YouTubers in 2020. “After that body was made, we tested the strength with a hoist,” he said, indicating that the workers ensured the custom build was practical and attractive.

The interior boasts a hand-painted and hand-stitched checked pattern on the dash, an olive leaf motif to celebrate the Tokyo Olympics that year, and a chandelier for a decadent finish. At 26 feet long, Frankenstein’s limo is almost twice the length of the standard 2020 RAV4, which measures 15.1 feet. It’s quite the modification for a hobby project completed over four months of stolen moments when other work was finished.