Toyota Cressida review: the last straight-six Toyota sedan on Bahrain's roads
3.1/5motorssouq Editorial Team
A well-kept Cressida is a genuinely nicer thing to drive than its used-market price suggests, and the 7M-GE straight-six is one of the more desirable Toyota engines of its era among people who know it — but that knowledge is thin on the ground in Bahrain, so plan on finding your own specialist rather than trusting a general workshop. Buy it for a smooth, comfortable, slightly nostalgic drive, not because you need a fourth car, and budget for the fact that a broken trim piece may mean a parts car rather than a phone call to the dealer.
Pros
- 7M-GE straight-six is smooth, strong and genuinely respected among enthusiasts
- Rear-wheel-drive layout gives it a character no front-wheel-drive Camry can match
- Comfort-tuned ride suits long highway cruises, including the causeway run
- Priced in Bahrain well below what the driving experience actually delivers
Cons
- Trim, badging and body parts are essentially specialist or import-only today
- Thirty-plus years of coastal humidity means rust is likely somewhere on an unrestored car
- Very few Bahraini workshops have genuine hands-on experience with this specific model
- Resale market is tiny; this is a keeper's car, not a flip
Before Lexus existed as a separate brand, the Cressida was Toyota's answer to a rear-wheel-drive executive sedan, and the final X80 generation covered here was the most refined version of that idea. Buyers in the Gulf who wanted a Toyota with a straight-six under the bonnet and a badge that read as slightly more special than a Corona or Camry bought this car, and a handful of well-kept examples are still on Bahrain's roads today.
Why the engine still matters
The 7M-GE inline-six is the reason enthusiasts still talk about the Cressida. It is smooth in a way four-cylinder Toyotas of the era simply were not, pulls cleanly through the mid-range, and has a mechanical reputation strong enough that specialist Supra and Cressida owners still hunt for good ones as engine donors — which tells you plenty about how the engine has aged even if the sedan it came in has not.
The four-speed automatic and rear-wheel-drive layout give the car a very different character to a front-wheel-drive Camry of the same era: a longer bonnet, a lazier but more confident feel under power, and a ride tuned for comfort on a highway cruise rather than for city agility.
Owning one on a small island
The honest challenge is not the engine, it is everything Toyota stopped stocking parts for decades ago. Interior trim, exterior badging and rust repair panels are essentially specialist or import-only items now, and thirty-plus years of coastal humidity means an unrestored example almost certainly has some rust to address at the sills or wheel arches. Anyone buying one in Bahrain today should already know a specific mechanic who understands the car, not assume the nearest Toyota-familiar workshop will.