Designed by a youthful team at Toyota's "Studio Argo", the lively compact coupe was built to showcase a futuristic, experimental aesthetic targeted at younger drivers.

It is most famous for transitioning almost completely unchanged into the production-ready Toyota Sera in 1990.

The standout feature was its distinct butterfly (gullwing-style) doors that pivoted upward and forward.

Supported by gas-filled struts, this system allowed easy entry and exit in tight parking spaces where normal doors would get blocked.

The expansive glass top curved around the cabin, meaning the upper portion of the doors actually formed a seamless piece of the roof.

Underneath its radical, spaceship-like exterior, the vehicle relied entirely on practical economy mechanicals shared with the standard Toyota Starlet, ensuring it was viable for mass manufacturing.

While it lacked high-performance specs, the design of the AXV-II holds a prestigious place in supercar history. Formula One designer Gordon Murray frequently encountered a production version of the car (the Sera) parked near his home.

He used its unique door-hinge mechanism as the direct blueprint and inspiration for the butterfly doors on the legendary McLaren F1 supercar.