Talk:Toyota Crown
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for every year...Maoririder 17:49, 14 December 2005 (UTC) thanks.
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[edit] Super Saloon
How was the Super Saloon trim level introduced in both the 4th and 5th models?
| Rory096 |
05:58, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
The AMI badge on the fifth model refers to Australian Motor Industries. This suggests it was assembled in Australia.Gavo123 09:06, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Generations
Why does this start at the RS30? The first Crown was the RS in 1955, which was superseded by the RS20, which was superseded by the RS30. Need to mention the early Crown's relationship to the Super RH, Master RR, Masterline RS, Crown Eight and Century. Stepho-wrs 10:40, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Detailed not technical
18-Oct-2007: I have been editing several technical articles (such as "Discrete Fourier transform") to add simplified wording, but the article "Toyota Crown" is not too technical, just detailed in content. The article doesn't even mention "spark plug" (or "axle"). Actual overly technical articles typically have more than 3 rare terms in a sentence (such as aquifer, aquitard & aquiclude) or contain several mathematical formulas; however, this article doesn't involve any of those technical issues. I have removed tag "{{technical}}" and suggested writing a more detailed analysis as to why the article is troublesome. Please don't tag an article as "technical" just because it contains detailed information. -Wikid77 04:11, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Iraq connection
"In Baghdad and the major cities of southern Iraq, the Toyota Crown has become the signature of Shiite Muslim militiamen..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dreznick (talk • contribs) 00:33, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
I'm not familiar with editing Wikipedia, but felt that this article should be incorporated in this subject.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/06/iraq-a-duck-tha.html
« AFGHANISTAN: U.S. casualty identified | Main | ISRAEL, LEBANON: Playing politics over corpses and prisoners »
IRAQ: A duck that strikes fear in the hearts of Iraqis
By Raheem Salman in Baghdad and a special correspondent in Basra
Few things strike fear in the heart of an Iraqi quite like an inconspicuous sedan known locally as a Batta --Duck, in Arabic.
In Baghdad and the major cities of southern Iraq, the Toyota Crown has become the signature of Shiite Muslim militiamen, who stuff their hapless victims into its roomy trunk and speed away.
Once, I was driving back from the southern city of Basra with a Times driver when we spotted one of these cars parked next to the highway with five young men inside. Our hearts started pounding. Sure enough, when we drove past them, they gave chase.
Their car was so fast that they managed to overtake us and block the road. But my driver swerved into the dirt and drove around them. Still, they didn’t give up. My driver’s face was pale, and he was shaking. He veered again to avoid a pothole and banged his head against the roof of the car.
"I can’t move my neck!" he shouted.
"Keep driving," I told him. "It’s a matter of life and death!"
The Batta was gaining on us, when suddenly we faced two trucks in front of us. One was trying to pass the other and taking up the entire road. Again, my driver slammed his foot on the accelerator and swerved off the road to overtake them. He then checked the rear-view mirror and laughed with relief.
"Raheem, they returned back!" he shouted.
We made it home safely that day.
The Batta is so notorious that songs have been written about it.
"We are afraid of the Opel (a car favored by Sunni gunmen) and the Batta. We are afraid of the jaish (army) and the shurtta (police)," goes one ditty.
For Ghassan Abdullah Suaiman, the Batta is like a "bad omen." He worked as a barber in Basra until the day that four masked gunmen pulled up in front of his shop in a Batta and ordered him to quit what they regarded as a sacrilegious profession.
He then started working as a taxi driver. One day, when he was looking for passengers, he saw a group of gunmen drive up to a cleric in a Batta and kill him along with an associate.
"I don’t like this car at all," Suaiman said.
For years, the gunmen had almost free rein in the lawless cities of the south.
The Iraqi security forces "weren’t doing anything to the gunmen who were killing or kidnapping, even when it happened right near their checkpoints," said Rafid Kareem, a pharmacist in the city of Amarah. "Even if they found some weapons inside a Batta, they would not take any action if (the occupants) told them they were from this or that party. Of course, if they did do anything against them, their lives would have been in danger."
A policeman in Basra, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, conceded that he never used to stop Battas when they passed through his checkpoint.
"We were afraid of the people using the Batta," he said. "Large numbers of Battas passed through our checkpoint in which there were gunmen, but we couldn’t stop them, punish them or even question them."
However, things have started to change since the government poured reinforcements into Basra in late March to crack down against militiamen. Now, owning one of these cars is an invitation to be searched.
"Checkpoints are always stopping me to ask about the car documents," grumbled Wisam Adil Salim, who has driven a Batta for years. "This is tiresome to me. My documents are legal."
The car’s fearsome reputation occasionally leads to misunderstandings.
A captain in the government’s Facilities Protection Service, who also asked not to be identified, said he lived in constant fear of assassination. As he was walking home one day, a Batta with no license plate pulled up alongside him with three men inside.
"I didn’t know how to behave," he said. Confused thoughts raced through his mind: "I’m going to be shot! I have no weapon!"
"I was thinking to grab a piece of brick or even a handful of dirt," he said. "But one of them asked me: "Please, where is the Qais the Martyr medical center?"
The captain said it took him more than a week to get over the fright.
A traffic police officer, who was also too afraid to give his name, said he thought the gunmen deliberately used the vehicle when they committed atrocities, so that people would quake at the mere sight of them.
"During this security campaign, hundreds of such cars were seized, as they have no legal documents," the officer said. "After that, the rate of crimes decreased a lot."
Photo: Just the sight of a Toyota Crown is enough to strike fear in the hearts of Iraqis. The vehicle is favored by Shiite Muslim militiamen. Credit: Saad Khalaf / Los Angeles Times. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dreznick (talk • contribs) 00:32, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
