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Seeing as Toyota occupies such an exalted place as the world's largest automaker based on sales, perhaps it's difficult to imagine a time when it mimicked big-name brands. But that was indeed the case back in 1935, when the Japanese automaker used the design of a 1934 Ford truck to inspire its first production vehicle, the Toyoda Model G1 truck. This was before company's name was changed to Toyota, just two years after Kiichiro Toyoda established an automotive division within the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works loom-making business founded by his father Sakichi Toyoda. In all honesty, its competences in car-making were initially quite limited. But every automaker had to start somewhere, and this lack of experience gave way to immense success in the modern era.
Starting in 1934, members of Toyoda's automotive subsidiary dove headfirst into building a prototype Model A engine. This was followed by the Model A1 passenger car prototype (in May 1935), which was influenced by the design of the DeSoto Airflow. But because the Japanese government had asked local manufacturers to prioritize making trucks and buses, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works temporarily halted the development of the passenger cars.
This is when the company switched its focus to building what became the G1 truck. The Toyoda Model G1 was officially revealed in November 1935, just months after the team started working on it in March of that year. Thus, it became the first Toyota vehicle to go on sale, with pricing starting from 3,200 yen for a complete vehicle and 2,900 yen for the chassis.
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The Toyoda G1 was a mix of bits and pieces from famous American car brands
Toyoda borrowed plenty when it made the Toyoda G1. Much of the influence came from U.S. automakers like Ford and Chevrolet, which dominated the Japanese car market at the time. Notably, the G1's chassis was inspired by the classic 1934 Ford pickup. It didn't have the exact same looks, but the frame and parts of the internal construction shared many design cues.
The accompanying full floating rear axle was also taken from Ford, but the front axle was based around a Chevrolet vehicle. This was done so the engine could be fitted without issues. The team used the already-developed Model A engine, which was built around a 1933 model Chevrolet sedan engine design. From those designs, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works also revised the cylinder head and relied on parts from Chevrolet for the engine crankshaft, camshaft, valve, plugs, and electrical components.
After everything was said and done, the 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine proved to be reasonably robust for the time, generating up to 65 horsepower. It's a long shot away from Toyota and Lexus' most potent performers today, but that output meant that the G1's engine made five horsepower more than the Chevrolet engine it imitated.
The G1 truck experienced constant failure during its early production
Toyota's rise as an automaker wasn't driven just by building the Toyoda G1, but also by the issues that affected it. Despite being made with the Ford pickup's durability in mind, it was notoriously problematic, as highlighted by the truck breaking down on its way to its premiere party in November 1935. The rudimentary nature of the G1 meant that it needed to be tweaked and perfected over time, allowing the company to learn many lessons on the way. Apparently, Kiichiro Toyoda himself would personally fix issues any of his consumers had with the truck, even taking the failed parts home to make sure those same problems wouldn't come up again.
Thus, this marked the beginning of the brand's philosophy of continuous improvement (Kaizen). It became a core principle of the Toyota Production System that has helped highlight Toyota's long-earned reputation for manufacturing reliable vehicles. This commitment to quality, as well as the decision to focus on simplicity rather than complexity, helped position Toyota as the most reliable car brand while making it successful enough to build well over 300 million vehicles since it started out. Ironically, if its first production vehicle wasn't such a mess, Toyota might not have found the motivation to become the industry giant it is today.
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