Comments on: $22,000 Crown Finds Home in Tupelo, Miss.

By: gary

gary — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:19:56 +0000

WOW. another Crown re-surfaces, as a kid my uncle had a repair garage and he got a Crown in trade, everybody hated it nobody would buy it and kids smashed the windows outa it till he put in the garage in back yard, we would drive the heckouta that car in summer and as a 10 yr old I learned to drive THREE on the Tree with it, still can smell the aroma of Japanes plastic and the hot summer sun in my nostrils…

By: Jaime

Jaime — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:50:51 +0000

This Toyopet is a great car. It is rare and stylish, certainly worth a lot more than the $22,322.00 it got sold for.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:28:42 +0000

It was also driven by an effort to give back to the community, combating anti-Japanese sentiment at the time. Also, it was to shield the companies from currency fluctuations. Right now the weak dollar is really cutting into profits for the Japan-built cars but not so for the US-built ones.

By: toyotageek

toyotageek — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:17:42 +0000

@ coupeZ600

Good question, and one I’m not equipped to answer. However, from what I understand, one reason for the move to produce in the US was economically driven by import taxes. I’m sure the full story is out there, I just don’t have it.

By: coupeZ600

coupeZ600 — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:23:04 +0000

@ Toyotageek: This is something that always nagged at me: Would the JDM guy’s all move their Factories over here for political reasons, all those years ago, so they could, with a lot less effort and shipping, create the same crappy cars that the shut-down Detroit Factories couldn’t produce, just to show they weren’t at prescient as they seemed?

By: Toyotageek

Toyotageek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:52:47 +0000

@ Burabuda – I agree with you.

FYI – Toyota won’t actually be ceasing production completely of said SUV’s and Trucks, but they are temporarily halting production and reconfiguring plants and retraining workers. The Mississippi plant was actually supposed to build Highlanders, but that changed after this summers gas situation. I think they put a freeze on 4Runners and some Tundras until November and they are restructuring their entire North American production plans.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/08/0710.html

Personally I could never understand why Toyota went the Tundra route, although I do see the business end of it (at that time, they gave Americans what they wanted – but in my opinion, it was too late). At the time I personally felt Toyota should increase small car & hybrid production – but, hey, I’m just a small guy at a local dealership and not one of the guys at HQ. I’d love to see Kei cars come to America – maybe the tide has begun to turn and Americans are starting to see bigger isn’t always better.

By: Burabuda

Burabuda — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:22:16 +0000

that’s pretty cool news! on a related note, i hear that the automaking behemoth will cease production on certain fuel-guzzling trucks & suv’s in order to focus on prius production. i say amen to that …