Japan · Japanese passenger-car prototype · May 1935

Toyota Model A1 prototype

Toyota's first passenger-car prototype was hand-shaped from sheet steel while its engineers learned by studying American cars piece by piece.

Engineering landmarks

This is not an A1. It is the 1936 Toyoda AA, the production successor developed from the 1935 A1 prototype. No A1 survives, and the bounded review found no reusable exact A1 photograph, so the page labels the substitution directly.

Exterior side museum view · Photo shows This is not an A1. It is the 1936 Toyoda AA, the production successor developed from the 1935 A1 prototype. No A1 survives, and the bounded review found no reusable exact A1 photograph, so the page labels the substitution directly.. Representative successor only; year and model differ from the profiled prototype.
1936 Toyoda AA museum display representing the lost Model A1 prototype · BsBsBs (Bertel Schmitt) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Auction-based estimated value

Research pending

A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.

Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.

A place in vehicle history

More than a set of wheels.

Kiichiro Toyoda's team completed the Model A1 prototype in May 1935, less than two years after beginning passenger-car research. Engineers dismantled and measured imported Chevrolet and DeSoto cars, built a Toyota Type A six-cylinder engine, and hand-formed the body because large stamping dies were not ready. The A1 led directly toward the 1936 AA sedan, but this page does not give the prototype the later production car's identity.

Look a little closer.

Workers shaped the first body panels by hand over wooden forms because the giant metal dies needed for mass production were still being made.

Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.

Learning by taking things apart

Toyota bought a 1934 DeSoto and a Chevrolet, disassembled them, drew the parts and compared their engineering. The A1's streamlined body followed the DeSoto's general direction, while the Type A engine grew from careful study of Chevrolet's six.

Source: Toyota 75 Years · Development of the Model A1 ↗

Prototype first, AA production later

The A1 proved Toyota could build a passenger car, but it was not sold to the public. Toyota then refined the design into the Model AA, whose production began in 1936; Joyride keeps the two stages separate.

Source: Toyota 75 Years · Model AA production ↗

Where these facts come from

Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 30, 2026.

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