Little known from the world's largest car manufacturer
No, the coupé pictured is not an Iso Rivolta or an Innocenti C, even if there is a certain visual similarity. It is a Toyota Corona Coupé from 1963, which probably remained in the prototype stage.
Nowadays, everyone knows Toyota, everyone has probably driven or been a passenger in a model of the Japanese brand. Every petrolhead likes the Toyota Celica, the Supra or, more recently, even the Yaris GR. But models such as the Toyota 2000 GT or the Corolla have also contributed to the brand's popularity.
In fact, Toyota models were hardly a household name in this country before the 1970s, although the company founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 had been building cars for much longer. Some of these were also marketed under the name Toyopet.
For example, the Toyota 700, also known as the Publica, is hardly better known than the Corona Coupé pictured above. The compact saloon is somewhat reminiscent of the Goggombil variants Isar T600 and T700 or the Trabant. The air-cooled two-cylinder engine was installed at the front and drove the rear wheels.
Several classes larger, but hardly ever seen in this country, was the Crown of the early sixties, which visually took a leaf out of the book of the Ford Falcon and the Imperial models from Chrysler.
