The green car you see on the left is what must be one of the most boring, if reliable cars currently in rotation on Finnish roads. It’s the ever-dependable Toyota Avensis wagon which holds its value reasonably well and holds together with little effort. Throw a rock in the air at a random parking lot and it’ll probably land on an Avensis (not recommended). The dark car on the right is practically an Avensis, too. It shares the bodyshell and a great number of small parts. However, it’s not really an Avensis if we’re getting down to business: it’s the Toyota Caldina GT-T. Instead of being a boring Japanese grocery-getter and dog hauler made in the United Kingdom (check it), it’s a Japanese grocery-getter and dog hauler that has a Celica GT-Four powertrain. Make note of it. 
Caldinas have swam here alongside Skylines and Lancer Evos and Impreza WRX:s when the JDM second-hand boom really started off during the last ten years. 
I love how you can practically confuse the two if you aren’t a car person at all; the difference to a common parking lot dweller is that the other has a louder exhaust than the other and you get in from the other side. 
The narrower and taller registration plate holder merits wider taillights on the Caldina. 
But while the green FWD automatic wagon here has a two-litre 3S-FE engine making 125 horsepower, the darker brother has the 3S-GTE engine making 260 horsepower delivered to all four wheels, hitting 100kph in seven seconds. I love it. [Images: Copyright 2014 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
By Antti Kautonen
The resident Finn of Hooniverse. Owns old Peugeots and whatnot, writes long thinkpieces on unloved cars. These two facts might be related.
Jeff Glucker