What could go wrong? Toyota’s Toyopet was a popular choice in Japan among taxi drivers who regularly spent time on roads that were still in terrible shape thanks to WWII bombings. The car had a reputation for being rugged and reliable and its small size was truly an asset. Just to be sure, Toyota had taken this popular car and put extra chrome on it just for the American market. In 1958 they made the leap and brought them to these shores with high hopes.

The doors to the dealership were opened and the salesman waited and waited. But those guys had a few obstacles to overcome.

In the late 1950s people still considered Japanese products to be cheap, poorly made junk. There was also remaining anger left in the American public over the whole Pearl Harbor thing. But that’s not what made the Toyopet a hard sell.

First of all, the name didn’t help. Toyopet was something one might more associate with a purchase made at the pet store than at a car dealership. Instead of Toyopets you could buy Lancers, Firedomes, Comets, Imperials and any manner of other cars with names that weren’t embarrassing to tell your neighbors about.

Then there was the horsepower - 58 to be exact. The car was brought off the boats in the Port of Los Angeles but could barely make it out of Los Angeles thanks to the hills that surround the city. If it found a tail wind and a downhill slope, it wasn’t well suited to “high speeds” of 60-70 miles per hour, either.

Inside, the car was bereft of creature comforts and was not comfortable. To further put a nail in the coffin of this little car, it was priced $700 more than the very popular VW Beetle of the time. At $2000 it was pricey, considering that the average price of a new car in 1959 was $2200 - and this was for a car that could go up hills at those “high” speeds and hold six people in almost royal comfort compared to the little Toyota.

Competition was about to get serious from the "Big Three" also, with Plymouth having the Valiant in the wings, Dodge with their Lancer and Ford with the Falcon. Worst of all, Chevrolet was putting the finishing touches on their Corvair which would make a huge splash and sell almost 2 million units by the time production was stopped in 1969.

Not to be fazed, the company was so confident in this vehicle that they extended the warranty to six months or 6000 miles, which was much longer than the typical warranty of the day of four months or 4000 miles.

In 1958 Toyota's 45 dealers sold a total of 287 Toyopets. By the time Toyota decided to stop exporting the car in 1960, their dealers were able to convince just 1913 Americans that a Toyopet was right for them.
Still, the car doomed itself. After only two years it was renamed the “Toyopet Crown” but, again, the whole lousy car thing. Besides, how could tiny Toyota compete with General Motors?

Toyota finally withdrew the car altogether and kept a low profile until 1965 when a new model was introduced, the Toyota Crown. With more power, space and capability this model was a big hit for Toyota and gave them a glimpse of the future, when the upstart Japanese company would crush General Motors in sales.

There were a few in those days who had praise for the little car. Toyota searched long and hard and found a positive review by James Potter in the Denver Post.

Another interesting piece cited by the manufacturer was Pierre Hardy's stunt. The car dealer drove the car in reverse 180 times around the public library to promote the vehicle making 15 trips per hour, six hours per day with only 10 minute coffee breaks. That much coffee, you'd think he'd need more breaks.