Toyota

The origins of the Toyota Publica can be traced back to the "national car" concept of the powerful Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which was announced in 1955. The concept stipulated for a vehicle fulfilling several requirements, like maximum speed over 100 km/h, weight below 400 kg, fuel consumption not exceeding 3.3 L/100 km at the average speed of 60 km/h, but also the requirement that the car would not break down or require significant repairs for at least 100,000 kilometres. The Publica was inspired by the successful Citroën 2CV and also had an air-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine, the displacement was 697 cc. It was available as a two-door vehicle only, but in a selection of body styles, ranging from the base sedan through a station wagon, convertible, coupé and even a pickup, which outlived the other models by a decade. Sales began in June 1961, but since the car was very basic, lacking even such basic options like a heater, its appeal to the consumers initially was limited.

In April 1969, a whole new generation of the Publica was launched. The car was effectively now a scaled down version of the Corolla, sitting on a shortened Corolla wheel-base. While the air-cooled 790 cc engine was retained in the cheapest domestic market versions, the cornerstone of the lineup was now the new water-cooled, four-cylinder 993 cc engine, a lower-displacement version of the 1,077 cc engine used in the contemporary Toyota Corolla. The situation in the Japanese market had changed, as demand developed rapidly, partially fuelled by the post-WWII baby boomers coming of age and gaining their driver's licenses. Having the Corolla firmly established as the family car offering, Toyota did not market the Publica as the "popular car" anymore, but rather as an entry-level vehicle for first-time young buyers. In most markets outside Japan, the Publica was branded as the Toyota 1000. It was replaced by the second generation Toyota Starlet in February 1978, which was the first Starlet to be exported to Europe.