We were flipping through the radio dials when suddenly our ears perked up to the phrase “Toyota Museum” on American Public Media’s Marketplace. It was part of a segment on how corporations are recognizing their heritage.
Those who have been to the Toyota USA Museum in Torrance, CA know that it’s actually a warehouse with no markings whatsoever to indicate that there are classics galore housed inside. So far, the company has kept mum about whether a proper gallery is in the works.
Of note, the story mentions the fact that it was 10 years ago on Toyota USA’s 40th
birthday that they began to take an interest in preserving their history. Then they started buying back cars and restoring them. Today, the museum contains eleven million dollars’ worth of Toyotas, both production cars and concepts. You can listen to the story here, which includes an interview with curator Susan Sanborn talking about the Toyopet Crown.
That’s awesome. I wish Nissan or Mazda would do something like that in the States.
Here’s a photo of the workshop in Toyota’s History Garage in Odaiba:
http://homepage.mac.com/jolocho/07tokyo46.jpg
Bloody fantastic article as always