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Gary & Louise Lee
Gary & Louise Lee have been in business together for over 30 years. They operate Advantage Customs at 6400 N Broadway, one of the leading auto and truck accessories businesses in the Midwest. They are most knowledgeable in all areas including Truck Tops and lids, pickup bed covers, tonneau covers and just about every accessory item manufactured for your car or truck. They custom build "flatbeds" for pickups for farm and ranch uses. Gary and Louise are also heavily involved in "tractor pulls" all around the area, and have won a number of events. You can reach them at (316) 744-0454 , or email them at garanwisey@aol.co |
Cars, Trucks, Vans & Automotive
2003-03-01 13:26:00
History of Toyota
: What is the history of the Toyota company and their Land Cruiser? Is it true it was the vehicle that literally made the company?
ANSWER: We will do our best to answer your questions over the next couple issues. Trucks played a pivotal role in the history of the Toyota Motor Company. In most cases, the Land Cruiser was the vehicle that carried the Toyota banner into new markets. However, a complete history of Toyota requires a look at the man whose company provided the capital and initial production facilities necessary for the founding of the Toyota Motor Company.Sakichi Toyoda was born in 1867 in Yamaguchi, Japan. He had dedicated his life to the invention of an automatic textile loom. In 1907, he formed Toyoda's Loom works, a company that by 1930 had grown into the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (TALW).Although he shared the inventiveness of his father, Kiichiro Toyoda did not share the fascination with looms. Instead Kiichiro dreamed of building automobiles. In March 1930, he began to build a prototype engine in a corner of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works factory. By January 29, 1934, Kiichiro had made enough progress with his engine design that TALW established an Automobile Department. The first engine, a 3.4l I6 dubbed the Type A was completed in September 1934. The first complete automobile prototype, the Model A1 was completed in May 1935.Due to restrictions on the domestic automobile industry, Kiichiro decided that would be better to focus on the production of trucks. As a result, the first prototype Toyota truck, the Model G1 was completed on August 25, 1935.In July 1936, it was decided that the cars produced by TALW would be marketed under the name "Toyota." The name was chosen because it sounded better than Toyoda, the katakana characters used to represent it were more aesthetically pleasing and consisted of eight strokes, a lucky number, and because the character was similar to the one representing growth. The Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (TMC) was formed on August 28, 1937.The Koromo Plant was officially opened in November of 1938. This plant would later become known as the Honsha Plant--the site of LandCruiser Production. The first vehicle produced at the new factory was the Model BM truck. A version of the 75hp engine used in this vehicle was to become the first engine in a Land Cruiser.Next time we will see how the ‘Toyota Jeep’ became the Land Cruiser.
