Toyota Celebrates 50 years in America

On October 31, 1957, a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood became the very first Toyota dealership in the United States. With World War II still fresh in the American consciousness, customer response was underwhelming. That first year, Toyota sold a meager 287 Toyopet Crowns and only a single FJ20 Land Cruiser. In 1957, “Made in Japan” meant junk; the Toyopet was no exception. Styling was frumpy and it took more than 25 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour; top speed was 78. In 1965 Toyota introduced the Corona, its first real success in America. The Toyota Corolla followed in 1967, and by 1970 Toyota was the number two import-seller in the U.S., behind Volkswagen. It took just five more years for Toyota to surpass VW and take the number one spot.  Last year, Toyota sold over 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. through 1215 dealers.