Toyota Innova in the Philippines is the leading car in transporting people from one destination to another while ensuring maximum comfort. This vehicle was launched the same year the video-sharing community YouTube was founded and Pope Benedict XVI ascended to papacy. Toyota hatched the Innova to revolutionize the Asian Utility Vehicle or AUV, especially since the company is very serious when it comes to their people-moving services.
However, comfort, affordability and ease of transport are not the only adjectives that can be attributed to Toyota.
Like with any other car companies, Toyota had its fair share of models participating in motorsports. Since the late 1950s, Toyota has been involved in many motorsports activities like Formula One, NASCAR, IndyCar, Champ Car, sports car racing and rallying. It is currently participating in Formula Nippon, Formula Three, Toyota Racing Series and NASCAR, among many others. Here are 6 Toyota cars that made history by participating in the field of motorsports:
Toyopet Crown Deluxe
This model was used to enter the Fifth Round Mobilgas Rally in Australia in 1957, becoming the first Japanese car to join said contest. It placed 47th out of the 52 competing cars but it won 3rd place among the foreign entries.
Toyota 2000GT
This is a limited-production car designed by Toyota in collaboration with Yamaha. The GT revolutionized the automotive world’s view of Japan, who by then was a producer of imitative and practical vehicles. This model was a sleek, high-performance fastback (a car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back) and achieved numerous international records at the Yatabe high speed course in 1966. It also entered the Suzuka 1000 km race and won first place. In 1967, this model bagged the championship in the first 24-hour Endurance Race in Fuji.
Toyota 7
The Toyota 7 was a racing car designed and developed primarily for the use in the Japanese Grand Prix. It was Toyota’s first custom-built racing car and it won the in the Fifth Grand Prix, earning Toyota its first class championship in 1968. It also won in the World Challenge Cup Fuji 200-Mile in 1969.
Toyota Corolla Levin
The Corolla Levin, along with the Sprinter Trueno, is a small, lightweight compact sports coupes produced by Toyota from 1972-2004. Toyota entered this model in the 1985 Japanese Touring Car Championship and won the Group 1 championship. It was also used in the Inter TEC (International Touring Car Endurance Race) and won the Group 1 championship as well.
Toyota Celica GT-Four
The GT-Four is a high-performance model of the Celica Liftback and was created to compete in the World Rally Championship. The ST165 (ST as the Toyota model code for each generation of Celica while the last digits are the exact model number or engine number) won in the WRC Rally Australia in 1989 and WRC Safari Rally in 1990. The upgraded model, the ST185, also won in the WRC Safari Rally in 1992.
Toyota Supra HV-R
The Supra HV-R is a hybrid race car based on the Supra GT. It was used in the Tokachi 24-Hour Endurance Race in 2007 and won the overall title, securing a win for the first time for a hybrid vehicle.
With their continuously evolving models made for every user’s comfort and lifestyle, Toyota has proven that they are not just limited to that. Promoting the fact that they are participating in motorsports proves that Toyota is, without a doubt, a part of the world where vehicles are used to showcase joy, excitement, and the limitless possibilities of cars.
