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Toyota 700 - Paprika at a radish price

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Created on April 12, 2024

Text:

Paul Krüger

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17

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17

Toyota 700 Sedan (1965) - take a break ... with Coca-Cola

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Toyopet Publica (1962) - Two-cylinder in a salmon costume

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Toyopet Publica (1962) - Interior with two-tone upholstery

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Toyopet Publica (1962) - air-cooled twin-cylinder of 700 cm3 with cross-flow heads and hemispherical combustion chambers

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Toyopet Publica (1963) - at the Tokyo Motor Show 1962

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Toyopet Publica (1963) - at the Tokyo Motor Show 1962

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Toyopet Publica (1962) - unpretentious means of transportation for four people

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Toyota 700 (1964) - export model with rounded-up engine capacity as name

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Toyota 700 Deluxe (1965) - air-cooled two-cylinder boxer with 28 hp

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Toyota 700 Deluxe (1965) - at the AutoRAI 1965 in Amsterdam

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Toyota Publica Deluxe (1965) - upscale version with bumper horns and side trim

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Toyota Publica Sport (1965) - Presentation at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1964

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Toyota 700 Utility Wagon (1965) - export model of the Publica Van for the Australian market

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Toyota Publica Deluxe (1965) - version for the domestic market

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Toyota Publica Deluxe (1966) - the much more popular luxury version

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Toyota 800 Sports (1966) - two-cylinder boxer engine with two carburetors

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Toyota 800 Sports (1966) - sports two-seater based on the Publica

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Summary

The plan of affordable people's cars for the masses did not seem to work out at first. Although the Toyopet Publica or Toyota 700 followed European models, it was too rudimentary for most Japanese. It was a luxury version of all things that brought the desired success. This article tells the story of Toyota's first step on the road to becoming the world's largest car manufacturer.

This article contains the following chapters

European role models
Better pushed than pulled
Raw equipment
More choice, more power

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Germany had the VW, France the Renault 4 CV, England the Morris Minor, Italy the Fiat 500, and Japan? Uh... In May 1954, Eiji Toyoda realized that almost nine years after the end of the war, his home country still lacked an affordable car to motorize the masses. The smallest model that his factory had in its range at that time was the Toyopet RH with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, which was mainly used as a cab. However, as cab drivers made up by far the largest proportion of Japan's motorists, the RH successor Master initially took priority. In April 1955, the development of Project UP10 finally began under chief engineer Tozo Yabuta. In May 1955, the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced a competition for the construction of a people's car with an engine capacity of 350 to 500 cubic centimetres, which was to travel at least 100 km/h and consume no more than 3.3 liters of fuel per 100 km/h, without anyone knowing about the other's plans. In addition, the vehicle must not weigh more than 400 kg and cost 250,000 yen (3000 CHF, 2895 DM) and must last at least 100,000 kilometers.

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