CharadeSG: SG Archives: Toyota Sera

Monday, 13 October 2025

SG Archives: Toyota Sera

This pint-sized Mclaren F1 appeared before the Mclaren did, and showed up here before the F1, too.

The Toyota Sera was and is certainly a super interesting car, not only for existing from a firm like Toyota but its influence on other cars now legendary from other manufacturers.

If you wanted pure speed and power like a boy-racer Honda Civic VTi, you would be out of luck with this bubbly liftback. Its very "beetle"-like appearance (the bug, that is) matches its pace, being powered by a calming 1.5-litre 5E-FHE four-cylinder engine that made only 104 quoted horsepower. Chances to get dusted by a family in a period-correct Subaru Impreza stationwagon is made guaranteed with the four-speed automatic transmission offered with the Sera, although a five-speed manual was also available.

This was more or less a budget show-off than an attainable force-a-nature, but this would be one hell of a car to attract the ladies in. Just uh, remove the Toyota badges and you'll be fine, they'll probably think it was a Porsche! There is little for two to do in this glass bowl though, given the unique glass roof canopy makes just about everything in the cabin see-through.

And yes, those gullwing doors. Something Toyota is probably never implementing again for a budget sports car, let alone anything in its lineup, to say less of any other company willing to give it a go to save on R&D! This butterfly doors that tilt upwards when opening eventually inspired Gordan Murray to design the Mclaren F1's door arrangement. Not too bad of a portfolio for the Sera.

This Sera is still fresh in my mind, having randomly slid by while I was out for a photoshoot with a new EV. Given my evident taste in cars, I was immediately drawn and quick to point it out, much to the amazement of my seasoned colleagues at seeing one since too many years ago.

Wait, that's a..!

We quickly switched back to our work after setting our eyes on it, but, this pint-sized Mclaren F1 is a must-see. I'm still reminded of my carspotting days of chasing a car down, like what we did here.

This Toyota Sera as pictured is probably in a state much closer to when it came out of the factory than at most of its life. Digging through old listings of this car, it is safe to say that it hasn't looked this original in a while.

It did undergo a restoration in the early 2020s, but whoever bought it over afterwards seemed to have re-modified it again. Happily, the current owner has brought it out of its misery with fresh paint and no messy bodykit.

It is one of two black-plate Seras in Singapore left, although I have not heard or seen anyone import one in as an eventual classic reg or similar, so it could be a one of two in Singapore, period. Sporting a red hue with a slight pearlescent-esque shine to it and steel wheels, I got to say that the look as is is already making me drool. Still, to see one still running around is amazing already, and I suppose it'll continue to look better in the coming years.

Its certainly been on many plate numbers plus paint shades, previously holding the SBX5872S number plate. It was white, then wine red, then pink-ish red, before ending up to how it is now.

I do not remember it being listed for sale officially under Toyota as an official model in Singapore, so there's a good chance this was a parallel import. No official numbers sold are available, with some estimates being as much as five at a given time. The wiki for this car mentions it was a Japanese-market exclusive, so it wouldn't be a surprise it wasn't officially brought in, given Singapore hardly receives any Japanese goodies safe for a few Singapore-exclusive editions here and there.

With nearly 16k of these being produced, these have become a rare sight globally, much less Singapore. May your luck and mine be good enough to see something as rare as this!

Ah, but don't forget the car that is also red, funky, and a possible future classic behind it.