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Hino 1953-1968 - Became a Toyota subsidiary

Name: Hino Contessa 1300 1965
Brand: Hino

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Created in 2013

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

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Hino Contessa Sprint (1963) - elegant bodywork by Michelotti on this sports car from Japan

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Hino Contessa (1966) - five-seater body with four doors, designed by Michelotti - Geneva Motor Show 1966

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Hino Contessa 1300 Coupé (1965) - pretty sports car

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Summary

There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is Hino from Tokyo. It produced cars and commercial vehicles in which Toyota was interested, and today Hino is still a truck and bus brand in the Toyota Group.

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The diesel engine manufacturer Hino Industry Co Ltd, founded in Tokyo in 1942, took over the licensed production of the Renault 4 CV in 1953. In 1961, it introduced its own model under the name Contessa , a notchback saloon with a fashionable horizontal beltline, but shorter and less elegant than the Renault Dauphine. The 893 cc four-cylinder engine was also installed in the rear. The three-speed gearbox with steering wheel gearshift could be combined with a Shinko-Hinomatic electromagnetic clutch on request. The Hino brand showed itself in a completely new light with the Contessa 900 Sprint, a graceful 2+2-seater coupé designed by design star Giovanni Michelotti and presented at the 1962 Turin Motor Show. The Contessa 1300 saloon followed at the 1964 Paris Motor Show, also a Michelotti design that barely gave away the rear engine.

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