The Swagger Wagon has just received a dramatic and quite literal facelift, featuring the unmistakable mug of SpongeBob Squarepants. This one-off piece of absurdity is actually a 2015 Toyota Sienna, customized to the hilt by Toyota->ke88 and Nickelodeon to promote the upcoming SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

The Sienna SpongeBob Squarepants Edition will make its public debut at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.->ke211 As sure as the sun is hot, this creation will likely go down as one of the more popular attractions in Los Angeles.

Once the SpongeBob Sienna gets its fill of the spotlight in Los Angeles, the van will embark on a cross-country tour to promote the new SpongeBob movie before the it opens in theaters on February 6, 2015.

Serious-minded folks are likely to scoff at the Sienna SpongeBob and dismiss it as nothing more than a novelty showpiece. How easy these people forget that this is actually the second SpongeBob-themed creation Toyota has built in as many years. Remember the 2014 Toyota Highlander Spongebob Squarepants Edition that made its debut at the 2013 SEMA Auto Show?->ke216

On a far less obvious level, it’s a genius marketing ploy to attach SpongeBob Squarepants to a minivan Toyota wants parents all over the U.S. to buy. What better way to do draw attention to that than by dressing up a Sienna using a cartoon character that kids of this generation are all-too familiar with. We see what you’re doing there, Toyota.

Click past the jump to read more about the Toyota Sienna SpongeBob Edition.

2015 Toyota Sienna SpongeBob Edition

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2015 Toyota Sienna SpongeBob Edition
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

Toyota swears that there’s a Sienna somewhere under the fully customized Spongebob exterior. Even if you do distinguish the car from its design, it’s hard to take your eyes off of SpongeBob’s face. It literally occupies every square inch of the Sienna's windshield and even extends down to the hood where his mouth is, completing the face that has made fans out of millions of kids -- and adults -- all over the world.

The entire body of the Sienna was also given a two-tone, yellow-and-blue finish depicting Spongebob’s skin color and the dominant color of his underwater address. There’s also a large bubble blower sitting on the roof of the van, described as a "Superhero Incredibubble" that was included with the singular purpose of blowing actual bubbles.

Interior

You thought the exterior was wild? Wait until you step inside the cabin of this Sienna. The oddities begin with the custom blue Captain’s ship wheel that has taken the place of the Sienna’s standard steering wheel. I’m not positive about this, but I don’t think that blue ship wheel has airbags inside of it.

A majority of the cabin, including the dashboard, door panels, and pillars were treated to the same ocean blue-colored trim as the roof. The headliner is finished in a different blue-sky shade of blue while the floor was recreated to look like sand. The inspiration behind those two designs is quite obvious.

Some yellow trims were also added throughout the cabin, as well as custom seats inspired by the colors of SpongeBob’s posse at Bikini Bottom. I’m guessing Spongebob and Patrick Star are the two font seats while Squidward Tentacles and Mr. Krab represent the second row captains chairs. The third row seats are a little harder to make out, but that could be Sandy Cheeks, Spongebob's squirrel/astronaut friend from Texas.

Drivetrain

The 2016 Toyota Sienna is powered by a 3.5-liter, V-6 engine that's good to produce 266 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels courtesy of a six-speed automatic transmission.

The combination of the V-6 and the transmission allows the Sienna to deliver 18 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, and 21 mpg combined.

Now that the Sienna's powertrain has been established, how do you even drive this thing to begin with? I get that the Captain's ship wheel can probably be taken out and replaced with a standard steering wheel, but is it possible to look out of the windshield and see anything with Spongebob's face blocking the view?

My guess is that the face can be taken off of the windshield when the Sienna needs to hit the road. That's the only plausible explanation I can think of.

Conclusion

It's best not take the Sienna SpongeBob Edition seriously and look at it the way it's supposed to be looked at. It's a kid-friendly promotional minivan that was given the full SpongeBob Squarepants treatment, right down to the captain's ship wheel and the bubble blower on the roof.

It's fantastic!