Toyoda AA

Toyoda A1 / AA / AB Toyota AA / AB / AC / EA / EB / AE / BA
Production period:	1935-1949
Class :	Middle class
Body versions :	Touring car , limousine

The 1935 Toyoda A1 was the first prototype of a passenger car built by the company that became Toyota in 1937 . It was then revised and manufactured as the brand's first production car under the name Toyoda AA ( sedan ) or Toyoda AB ( Phaeton ). In 1937 the company, brand and models were renamed Toyota . Later, the AA and AB models were replaced by the similarly designed types AE , AC and BA .

The entire series was replaced by the completely different and more progressively constructed SA .

A1

A1
Image does not exist
Production period:	1935
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Otto engine : 3.4 liters
Length:
Width:
Height:
Wheelbase :
Empty weight :

Three A1 prototypes were completed in May 1935. None of these cars survived. They were consecrated in a Buddhist ceremony and Kiichiro Toyoda then drove one of them to the grave of his father, Toyoda Sakichi , who gave him the first money to start his automobile factory.

After the prototypes were ready, Toyoda turned its attention to the Toyoda G1 truck model , as it promised profits in less time. After the G1 was ready for series production, the company was able to spare money to develop the AA and AB passenger cars.

The A1 had an in-line six-cylinder engine with a capacity of 3,389 cc and a three-speed gearbox with a steering wheel shift. The chassis and electrics were taken over by Ford . The two rigid axles were equipped with steel disc wheels and drum brakes. Mechanically, the types A1, AA, AB and G1 largely corresponded.

The A1 had a closed sedan body with four doors, the rear doors being hinged at the rear. This body essentially corresponded to that of the Chrysler Airflow . Toyoda had bought such a vehicle a year earlier and had it completely dismantled. The flat windshield was undivided and had a single wiper mounted on top of the driver's side. There were three windows on each side, one in the front door, one in the rear door and a third in the C-pillar. The spare wheel was mounted on the vertical trunk lid.

The A1 was only available as a right-hand drive model.

AA, AB

AA, AB
Toyota AA Replica (1987)
Production period:	1936-1943
Body versions :	Touring car , limousine
Engines:	Otto engine : 3.4 liters
Length:	4737 mm
Width:	1734 mm
Height:	1737 mm
Wheelbase :	2851 mm
Empty weight :	1500 kg

Toyota AB (1936)

The AA differed only slightly from the A1.

From 1936 to 1943, 1,404 AA sedans were produced, then the model was replaced by the more advanced AC. In addition, 353 AB Phaeton (including the military version ABR) were built until 1942. There was no direct successor to this model.

Like its predecessor A1, the AA largely corresponded to the Chrysler Airflow. It had an all-steel body mounted on a steel ladder frame. The windshield and doors also corresponded to those of the predecessor. The AB was the four-door Phaeton version of the AA and corresponded to it except for the fabric folding roof and the front-hinged rear doors. The windshield could be folded forward onto the hood. The mechanics of both models also corresponded to those of the prototypes.

Replica for the 50th company anniversary

Toyota wanted to use a Toyota AA for the 50th anniversary celebration in 1987, but could not find a surviving copy. So it was decided to build a replica , but there were no full plans for that either. The plans still to be found came from different development phases of the vehicle, were often incomplete and did not correspond to today's drawing standards. Still, a single vehicle emerged that is believed to represent the AA well. This replica is now in the Toyota Motor Museum .

The last copy was found

In 2008, a vehicle advertisement from Vladivostok appeared on a Russian website , which incorrectly identified the car as a 1943 Chevrolet. It was finally acquired by the museum director of the Louwman Museum through a Russian middleman; today it is part of the Dutch Louwman Collection . The authenticity of this specimen has been certified by Toyota Motor Corporation .

AC

AC
Toyota AC (1943)
Production period:	1943-1948
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Otto engine : 3.4 liters
Length:	4884 mm
Width:	1734 mm
Height:	1746 mm
Wheelbase :	2850 mm
Empty weight :	1550 kg

The AC differed from the AA only in small changes to the body. The windshield was now divided vertically in the middle by a wide metal bar. Construction of the model began in 1938. From 1943 until its replacement by the SA 1947/1948, 115 copies were made, of which 43 were made in 1943, 19 until February 1944 and 50 were spare parts for the army in 1947. In 1948 another three were made. In 1945/1946 Toyota did not manufacture any cars; however, the successor model SA was already in development at that time. The mechanical equipment of the AC corresponded to that of the types AA and AB.

EA

EA
Image does not exist
Production period:	1938
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Gasoline engine
Length:	3220 mm
Width:	1300 mm
Height:	1250 mm
Wheelbase :	2610 mm
Empty weight :	650 kg

Kiichiro Toyoda designed the Toyota EA in 1938 as a copy of the DKW F7 , but the car was no longer manufactured due to the war.

A small two-cylinder, two-stroke Toyota E engine powered the front wheels.

EB

The Toyota EB was a rear-wheel drive compact car designed in 1938, but it was also not produced in series due to the war. The same two-stroke engine was used as the drive as in the EA.

AE

AE
Image does not exist
Production period:	1941-1943
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Gasoline engine : 2.3 liters
Length:	4500 mm
Width:	1730 mm
Height:	1635 mm
Wheelbase :	2500 mm
Empty weight :	1220 kg

The AE model was smaller than its predecessor. It was developed in 1939 and a prototype was ready in September of the same year. The model was introduced in early 1940 and was mass-produced from 1941 to 1943. Only 76 copies were made. The mechanical components corresponded to those of the AA, but the type C engine was a type A shortened by two cylinders.

BA

The BA was a simplified sedan whose chassis was partly made of wood to save steel. It is said that this model presented in 1940 was based on the Volvo PV60 , but this information is doubtful because the Volvo was only presented in 1944 and was only produced in series from 1946. Most prototypes of the Volvo PV60 were made between 1942 and 1944. There is some information about a Volvo prototype from 1939, but only incomplete data and no photos.

The BA was introduced in 1940 and produced in series. Only 17 copies were made. However, some sources claim that this model was only manufactured in series from 1943, with one specifying the date June 1943. However, if you look at the production figures for 1943, which mainly concern the AC model, it is inconceivable that all 17 copies of the BA should have been made in this one year. Rather, production probably took place in 1940 and 1943 or extended over the entire period from 1940 to 1943, although only a few were actually built in 1943, the year of "official" series production. At least one example was apparently actually made in 1943, as it is in a photo owned by Toyota Motor Co. Ltd. can be seen and in the caption as "1943 Toyota Model BA 4-cylinder saloon", which is mentioned in at least one source.

Further prototypes never built in series

A copy of the Phaeton model Toyota BB was built in 1941. It looked like a contemporary Chevrolet .

Two or three copies of a "Model B " (or "Model BC "), a luxury sedan, were also made. One source cites 1942 as the year of manufacture, while others state 1944. In any case, this was the last car that Toyota built until the end of the war.

Toyota car production (1935–1949)

The following table is part of the published by Toyota and indicates passenger cars (obviously without prototypes):

1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
0	100	577	539	107	268	208	41	53	19th	0	0	54	21st	235

literature

• Eiji Toyoda: Toyota-fifty years in motion. Kodansha International, Tokyo 1987, ISBN 0-87011-823-4 .
• Yukiyasu Togo, William Wartman: Against all odds. St. Martin's Press, New York 1993, ISBN 0-312-09733-6 , pp. 56-73.
• Jan P. Norbye: Cars Made in Japan. Bleicher Verlag, Gerlingen 1991, ISBN 3-88350-161-1 .

Web links

Commons : Toyota AA  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Toyota AB  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Toyota AC  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of Toyota 1867-1939. ( Memento from March 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
• History of Toyota 1940-1949. ( Memento from March 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Michael Cusumano: The Japanese Automobile Industry: Technology and Management at Nissan & Toyota. The Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge (Mass.) / London 1985, ISBN 0-674-47256-X . (Measurements and weight)
2. ^ The Toyota AA Passenger Car. In: the wheel extended. Volume 17, No. 3, 1987, Toyota Motor Corporation, ISSN  0049-755X
3. ^ Louwman Museum. Retrieved February 18, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Photo gallery: The last AA. on: handelsblatt.com , January 7, 2011.
5. ^ Toyota: A history of the First 50 Years. Toyota Motor Corporation, 1988, ISBN 0-517-61777-3 , pp. 133/135/137.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Marco Ruiz (Ed.): One Hundred Years of the Automobile, 1886–1986. Gallery Books, New York 1985, ISBN 0-8317-6550-X .
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Bob Hall: Japan's Toyota with Stovebolts. In: Special-Interest Cars. (03-04 / 1977)
8. ^ ^{A b c} Marco Ruiz: The Complete History of the Japanese Car. Portland House, New York 1986, ISBN 0-517-61777-3 .
9. ↑ Björn-Eric Lindh: Volvo: The Cars - From the 20s to the 80's. Förlagshuset Norden AB, Malmö 1986, ISBN 91-86442-14-7 .
10. ^ GN Georgano: The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars: 1885 to the Present. 2nd edition. EP Dutton, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
11. ↑ ^{a b} Joachim Kuch: Toyota since 1936. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-02213-3 .
12. ^ ^{A b} Nick Georgano: The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. The Stationery Office, Norwich 2000, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 .