Toyota AA

The A1 prototypes were completed in May 1935.

The A1 used the 3,389 cc (206.8 cu in) Type A Overhead valve 6-cylinder engine producing 62 horsepower (46 kW) with a 3-speed column-shift manual gearbox.

The Type A engine was copied from a purchased and reverse engineered 1933 Chevrolet Master, and the chassis and electrics were copied from Ford.[1]

Solid axles were used at both ends. Pressed metal discs were used for all 4 wheel rims (very modern for the time). Braking was by drums.

The mechanicals were the same as used in the production AA, AB and G1 vehicles.

The A1 was a fully enclosed, 4-door sedan, with conventional front-hinged front doors and rear-hinged suicide-style rear doors. It was heavily based on the Chrysler built DeSoto Airflow, which was a reflection of Art Deco and streamlined appearances.[2] Toyoda bought an Airflow and disassembled it the year before producing the A1. The front window was a single piece of flat glass with a top-mounted wiper on the driver's side. There were 3 windows per side, one for the front door (without a quarter light window), one for the rear door and one behind the rear door. A spare tyre was mounted on the nearly vertical boot lid.

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

A total of 1,404 AA sedans were produced from 1936 to 1943, when the model was replaced by the more austere AC.

A total of 353 AB convertible, including the military ABR version, was produced from 1936 to 1942. There was no direct replacement.

The AA was a fully enclosed 4-door sedan that largely copied the design of the Chrysler built DeSoto Airflow. It had a metal body on a metal ladder chassis. The metal body was of modern construction compared to the fabric-over-wooden-frame bodies used on cars designed in the 1920s. The rear doors opened backwards as suicide doors. The front glass spanned the entire width of the body in a single pane.

The AB was identical to the AA except that it was a convertible with a folding cloth roof, the rear doors opened forwards like conventional doors and the front glass could fold down onto the engine compartment.

The mechanicals were the same as used in the A1 prototype.

Toyota wanted to use an AA for its 50th birthday in 1987 but couldn't find any surviving examples.[4] Toyota decided to build a replica but even for that there were no complete and consistent plans. Plans that could be found were from various points during the car's development process and in any case were often incomplete and lacking by today's standards. However, a single replica was built that is believed to be representative of the AA. This replica is now in the Toyota Automobile Museum.

In 2008 an original AA was found in Russia in derelict and heavily modified condition, with undercarriage and drivetrain from a GAZ-51 truck. It is now displayed, still in this condition, in the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands.[5][6]

Design work began in 1938. A total of 115 AC sedans was produced from 1943 until the model was replaced by the Toyota SA during 1947–1948. Forty-three were produced in 1943, 19 in 1944 (until February), and 50 units were made from spares in 1947 for a military order, with a final three being built in 1948. No Toyota passenger car production occurred in the years 1945 and 1946, although what would become the first post-war car, the SA, was in development during these years.

The mechanicals were similar to the AA and AB.

The EA was designed in 1938 but did not go into production.

A small front-mounted, 2-cylinder, 2-stroke Type E engine connected as front-wheel drive.

The EB was designed in 1938 but did not go into production.

A small front-mounted, 2-cylinder, 2-stroke Type E engine connected as rear-wheel drive.

The AE was developed during 1939, and a prototype was completed in September of that year. The model was introduced at the beginning of 1940. However, production occurred from 1941 to 1943. Only 76 of this model were built.[8][9]

The mechanicals were similar to the AA except that it had the Type C engine, which was a Type A with 2 cylinders removed.

The BA was introduced and first produced in 1940. No more than 17 were built.[9] Some sources, however, claim the model did not enter production, such as it was, until 1943, with one giving the date of June 1943.[8][10] But judging from 1943's production figures, the majority of which would have to represent the AC, it would not seem to be the case that all 17 BA production cars were built that year. The production of the 17 cars may have occurred in 1940 and 1943, or perhaps it was stretched over the 1940–1943 period, with the last few being completed in 1943, when the model was said to have started "official" production. Support for the notion that at least a few of these cars were produced in 1943 would come from a photograph (obtained from Toyota Motor Co. Ltd.) of a BA captioned as "1943 Totoya Model BA 4-cylinder saloon" in at least one source.[12]