‘The perfect first model’: The story behind Toyota’s first car in Australia

While Toyota has firmly cemented itself as the new car market leader in Australia – the Japanese brand has held the number one spot on the Australian new car sales charts since 2003 – its seemingly indestructible reputation for reliability wasn’t always the case.

Tracing the Japanese auto giant’s history in the land down under starts with the introduction of the Toyota LandCruiser in 1958, thanks to construction magnate Leslie Thiess.

While Thiess wasn't technically the first importer of the LandCruiser – with that distinction belonging to Melbourne-based importer B&D Motors in 1957 – it was Thiess who first introduced the now iconic four-wheel-drive to the public.

RELATED: A short history of the Toyota LandCruiser

Thiess – knighted in 1971 for his contributions to Australian industry – imported 13 Toyota LandCruiser FJ25 models for his construction company which was tasked with building tunnels, dams and roads for the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme.

A Toyota spokesperson told Drive the first 13 models “were at the epicentre” of the Japanese brand’s presence in Australia.

Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said despite mechanical issues those original LandCruisers sustained as part of working in harsh terrain, ultimately their durability, coupled with Thiess’s stamp of approval, helped establish the four-wheel drive’s reputation in Australia.

“Those very first LandCruisers proved their mettle in some very extreme conditions and while they had some mechanical issues … it was the rugged nature of the vehicles and the [Thiess] Company’s strong support that first established the brand here,” Hanley has previously said.

Those early mechanical issues and failures would provide the catalyst to build Toyota’s future reputation, the then still fledgling Japanese brand determined to be known for the durability and reliability of its fleet.

“Toyota’s adherence to quality, durability and reliability in the local market was forged very early on in the Snowy project, taking learnings from any mechanical failures to build an ever-more-reliable product,” a Toyota spokesperson told Drive.

The late Alex McArthur, a Toyota executive at the time, explained the extent to which the Japanese manufacturer supported Thiess’s use of the LandCruiser in Australia.

“We had problems with the vehicles we put into the Snowy Mountains fleet, mostly front axle and gearbox troubles because the conditions were very hard and difficult,” McArthur relayed in Toyota’s book, The Long Run.

“We had Land Rovers, Willys and Austin Champs and they all broke too. If anyone could break a vehicle, it would be the Thiess construction crew.”

McArthur said the major difference between Toyota and other manufacturers was the brand's willingness to improve its products directly at the source of the problem.

“They [Toyota] didn’t hesitate, dispatching engineers who lived with us on site until the problems were rectified. They’d fly out parts and send broken pieces back to Japan for analysis, to rectify the problem at the source,” wrote McArthur.

According to Toyota, Thiess was “impressed by the early model LandCruiser”, so much so that he applied to become the brand’s distributor in Australia, predominantly in Queensland and New South Wales.

A Toyota spokesperson confirmed Australia was the “first export market for the LandCruiser”, which started the brand’s development of future models for the country “particularly in regional and remote areas”.

“Australia’s extremely harsh and varied environment made it [the LandCruiser] the perfect first model to be introduced in the Australian market,” a Toyota spokesperson told Drive.

“Rural customers required a vehicle that would be able to traverse the most difficult terrain, day in, day out without downtime from mechanical issues.”'

Subsequently, Toyota Australia said the introduction of the 40 Series LandCruiser in 1962 “cemented its legacy as the quintessential companion for farmers, adventures and miners” as its vast range of “body configuration” most notably the short, medium, long wheel-base options made it easier for customers to tailor the car to their specific needs.

By 1964, there were close to 4000 Toyotas in Australia, around half of which were LandCruisers.

While the Toyota LandCruiser FJ25 is credited as the first Toyota model in Australia, the Japanese brand had started to grow its popularity among new car buyers, and by the early 1960s talks of an Australian-built Toyota started to gain traction.

By 1963 production of the Toyota Tiara, the first Australian-built Toyota and the first Toyota car built outside of its native Japan, began under licence in a Port Melbourne factory owned by Australian Motor Industries (AMI).

The Tiara was succeeded by the Toyota Corona which started rolling off the Port Melbourne production line in 1964, followed by the Toyota Crown in 1967.

The Toyota Corolla – one of the best-selling models in Australia – started its Australian production in 1968, the same year Toyota Motor Corporation took a controlling interest in AMI  as well as a 40 per cent stake in Thiess Toyota, which had continued to import and sell the brand’s commercial vehicles.

By 1971, Toyota had increased its shareholding in AMI to 50 per cent while further local investment in an engine and gearbox plant saw the opening of a new Toyota factory in Altona, Melbourne in 1978.

Toyota acquired all remaining shares in AMI in 1987 to officially become Toyota Motor Corporation Australia.

In 1991, Toyota topped the Australian sales charts for the first time, cementing its position as the market leader, holding the top spot from 1991-94, in 1998 and again in 2000. In 2003, Toyota reclaimed the top spot, a position it has held ever since.