It is an Avalon, I found this reference, it must have been some sort of test mule or one with a major defect. I knew they made them in OZ, I assumed that is where the Japanese cars came from:
The name "Pronard" was coined from the French verb "
prôner," which means "to extol" or "to advocate." It is bestowed on the recently updated Toyota Avalon for in the Japanese market.
The first- and second-generation Avalon had its exterior styled at Toyota's California design center, CALTY, with the interior designed in Japan. It was engineered by Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) in Toyota City, Japan, and was jointly developed by TMC and the Toyota Technical Center (TTC) headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI. It is produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK), and exported to Asia.
The Avalon is made to order, catering to America's solid citizenry who appreciate the car's intermediate-size sedan package offered at a reasonable price, in both initial purchase and running. It has full-size, five-/six-seat accommodation, cavernous luggage volume, comfortable and quiet ride, and vice-free handling, as well as Toyota's renowned quality and reliability. The original Avalon found its way across the Pacific to Japan, retaining the nameplate, but with extra equipment to qualify as an entry-luxury sedan. Because the car is made in America it was also admitted to Korea where Japanese imports are banned. Its reception in Japan, however, was lukewarm at best. Toyota is renewing its effort with the second-generation Avalon, now renamed Pronard, in the competitive and crowded Japanese market, where Toyota touts it as "a full-size luxury sedan, offering discerning car owners a unique, self-expression alternative." There is more to the car than meets the eye, which may see a perfectly ordinary, homely Avalon sedan. As with the first-generation Avalon, the new Avalon/Pronard is on a stretched Camry front-wheel-drive platform. The Japan-bound Pronard is built on assembly line No. 1 at TMMK—the same as the Avalon—and is powered by the Kentucky-produced 1MZ-FE light-alloy, quad-camshaft, 24-valve, 3.0-L V6. The engine employs a VVT-i continuously variable intake valve timing system and the ACIS-IV variable acoustic induction system, the latter varying the intake tract length in three stages. The engine produces 158 kW (212 hp) at 5800 rpm and 299 N•m (220 lb•ft) at 4400 rpm on a 10.5:1 compression ratio, requiring premium-grade unleaded gasoline, and meets Japan's stringent T-LEV standards, vs. the U.S. Avalon's LEV qualification. The engine is mated to an electronically controlled, four-speed automatic with either column shift (six-seat) or floor shift (five-seat).
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