TOYOTA cars

Let’s look around successive famous TOYOTA cars this time round.

When it comes to TOYOTA, it’s a top-notch Japanese company whose aggregate market value is more than 20 trillion Japan yen now. Basically, TOYOTA is known as an automobile manufacturer, though, it was started as a weaving machine company when it was founded. The automobile department was established in 1933. It was the start of TOYOTA today effectively.

The first car TOYOTA developed was the AA type passenger car. The first release was 1936 and the brand name at that time was actually "TOYODA". In 1937, it was changed to “TOYOTA”. Because the letters in katakana can be good designability and the 8 stroke counts represents good omen. Before the change, the all cars were sold as "Toyoda Motors".

And the car released in 1947 was Toyopet SA type.  It was a two-door compact car developed by integrating the latest technologies at the time after the end of the World War II. The brand name "Toyopet" is now quite familiar, though, it's actually selected from the public.

It was 1951 when LAND CRUISER was released firstly. It can be often said, "Lan-Cru". It's a very popular SUV both in Japan and overseas. At first, it was named "Jeep BJ / FJ type" for the sale. But, the company was thinking it was actually bad in the market moral to use the name “Jeep”. So it was changed in 1954.  In other words, this "Jeep BJ / FJ type" was really the first LAND CRUISER.

The luxury sedan "Crown" everyone longs for has been on sale since 1955. It's still a luxury car to symbolize TOYOTA. The official name is "Toyopet Crown". The first Crown was the largest standard as compact cars at the time, and the design was much influenced by American cars.

It was 1966 when a popular car "Corolla" everyone knows was released. The other popular cars were also released at that time, "Pablica" and “Corona ". Pablica"’s engine capacity was 800cc, and “Corona”’s was 1,500cc. So the first Corolla came up adopting the new K type engine whose capacity was 1,077cc, which was in-between 800cc and 1,500cc.

"HIACE" has been on sale since 1967. It's a cab-over type car the driver's seat is located above the engine.

TOYOTA's best luxury passenger car, "Century" has been released since 1967. The current model is the 3rd generation and lots of safety equipment is built in, such as hybrid engine and automatic braking system so the price can be 20 million Japan yen, you know. The one delivered to the imperial family is the model called "Century Royal" based on the second generation.

The representative coupe car of TOYOTA is "Celica", which was sold more than 30 years since 1970.  The first generation got much popular known as “Dharma Celica”. It was originated from the look like a hanging beard when seeing it from the front side.

"Panda Trueno", that is the beloved car of Takumi Fujiwara who is the main character of the blockbuster manga "Initial D", was released in 1972. The AE86 type Takumi was driving in the production is especially much popular. If I can have opportunity to get on Toyota 86, I’m crazy for challenging mountain paths with the car.

Corolla Levin is a sister car of this Trueno.

The sports car "Supra", which has driven the domestic sports car market, has been on sale since 1978. It's one of the sports cars, so many enthusiastic fans are fascinated. The new model of the 5th generation was released in 2019.

In 1984, the ever first Japanese mid-engined commercial car, "MR2" was released. It's a famous sports car that won the Car of the Year Japan Award. The successor, "MR-S" was released in 1999.

A large-sized minivan, "Estima", which has gained much popularity as a family car, has been on sale since 1990. The rounded body line became a hot topic with the catchphrase "Genius Egg".

The crossover SUV that has been on sale since 1997 is "Harrier." It's a model to have gained worldwide hit.

Also, a hybrid car released in 1977 was "Prius". It brought about the great impact on the automobile industry with its fuel consumption, environmental performance and stillness. It's a long-time-selling car as an "Environmentally friendly car".

A representative compact car of TOYOTA, "Vitz" was released in 1999. It provides not only affordability and convenience but also designability and safety, so it has recorded a mega hit both in Japan and overseas. Along the full model change in this year, the car name was unified to the global model "Yaris".

So far, we have looked around some famous cars of TOYOTA, though, there are lots of other popular cars in TOYOTA, like "Boxy", "Sienta", "Mark X", "Vellfire", and “TOYOTA 86 which was jointly developed with SUBARU.