Known as the Toyota Paseo outside of Japan, the Cynos was a popular and sporty economy class vehicle that was introduced to the world in 1991. The body style was based somewhat on the Tercel, coming in a coupe and convertible edition. The Cynos was sold in the United States up until 1997 and in Canada, Europe, and Japan until 1999. It was replaced by the Toyota Echo in 2000. The Cynos had a base manufacturing platform that was similar to the Tercel and the older Starlet, making quite a few parts interchangeable between the three models of cars.
The first generation of the TOYOTA CYNOS was produced between 1991 and 1995. It came with a 1.5 liter engine that was rated at 100 horsepower with 91 feet of torque. It came as a five speed manual transmission or four speed automatic transmission. The second generation of the car was introduced in 1996, with the only difference being some modernization of the engine electronics and the body sheet metal. The convertible version was introduced in 1997. Due to flagging sales of the car, Toyota discontinued selling the line in the United States in 1997 and in the United Kingdom in 1998.