Toyota has built some strange vehicles over the years, but few are as unapologetically weird as the WiLL Vi. Produced for just two years in Japan around the turn of the millennium, the tiny retro-futuristic hatchback looked like something pulled from a 1930s cartoon and redesigned by industrial designers who had just discovered Y2K aesthetics.
Now, one of these bizarre little Toyotas has surfaced for sale in the United States on Bring a Trailer, giving enthusiasts a rare opportunity to own one of the oddest production cars Toyota ever created.
Finished in metallic silver over a Terracotta cloth interior, this particular 2000 Toyota WiLL Vi was recently imported from Japan to the U.S. and currently resides in California with around 71,000 miles on the odometer.
Even by modern standards (looking at you, Ferrari Luce), the thing looks absolutely bizarre. The strange part is that Toyota built it exactly this way on purpose.
Toyota’s Experimental WiLL Project
The WiLL Vi wasn’t simply a random low-volume oddity from Toyota’s design department. It was actually part of a much larger collaborative project known as “WiLL,” a joint marketing initiative between several Japanese companies aimed at younger buyers.
Toyota partnered with brands from entirely different industries, including electronics and consumer goods companies, to create products designed around youth-oriented trends and unconventional styling. The WiLL Vi became the automotive centerpiece of that experiment.
Built in 2000 and 2001, the WiLL Vi rode on Toyota’s small-car platform and used fairly ordinary mechanical components underneath. The styling, however, was anything but ordinary.
Its exaggerated rear fenders, vertically cut rear window, exposed trunk hinges, and unusual proportions gave it an appearance that’s somewhere between a vintage European economy car and a concept vehicle that accidentally escaped into production.
Some people compare it to the Citroën Ami 6. Others think it resembles a rolling kitchen appliance. Either way, it’s impossible to confuse it with anything else on the road.
Weird Design Details Everywhere
The WiLL Vi becomes even stranger once you start looking closely at the details. This particular example rides on 15-inch steel wheels with unusual “sand dollar” wheel covers that perfectly match the car’s quirky personality. The wraparound rear doors and cliff-style rear glass make the hatchback look unlike any other Toyota ever sold.
Inside, things become even more delightfully weird. The dashboard uses a centrally mounted gauge cluster paired with what the seller describes as a “baguette-style dashboard,” which honestly feels like the only accurate way to describe it. The interior also features bench seating front and rear, adding another unexpected design choice to an already unconventional car.
Terracotta cloth upholstery gives the cabin a warm retro look, while period-correct features like a CD/cassette stereo and power windows remind you this was still a practical economy car underneath all the visual experimentation.
Tiny Engine, Big Personality
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the WiLL Vi was never intended to be a performance car. Under the hood, we find Toyota’s 1.3-liter 2NZ-FE inline-four producing just 87 horsepower and 90 lb-ft of torque, paired with a four-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels.
That means performance is modest at best, though that was never really the point of the WiLL Vi. This car was designed to stand out visually rather than dominate traffic light drag races.
Under current ownership, the car received fresh spark plugs, a new battery, engine oil service, and a replacement air filter in 2025. New Continental tires were also fitted, and the car was given a front-end alignment.
The Bring a Trailer listing does mention some cosmetic imperfections, including paint flaws, peeling clearcoat near the roofline, steering wheel wear, and some discoloration on the headliner. Still, considering the car’s age and rarity, it appears remarkably well preserved.
A Rare Slice Of Toyota Weirdness
Cars like the WiLL Vi simply don’t happen very often anymore. Modern automotive design has become increasingly globalized, heavily regulated, and shaped by efficiency targets, leaving very little room for strange low-volume experiments aimed purely at style and personality.
The WiLL Vi feels like a product from a completely different automotive era, one where major manufacturers occasionally decided to build something bizarre just because they could, and that’s exactly what makes it so interesting today.
While it may never become a blue-chip collectible in the traditional sense, the WiLL Vi has quietly developed a cult following among enthusiasts who appreciate obscure Japanese domestic market oddities.
With Japanese imports from the late 1990s and early 2000s becoming increasingly popular in the U.S., quirky cars like this are finally starting to receive the attention they always deserved.
Even among rare JDM imports, though, few cars look quite this strange, and honestly, that’s probably why people love it. If you want to bid on this particular example, you need to hurry, as the auction ends soon.