JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
Interesting information I ran across about Gihee Arakawa the man that founded Arakawa Sheet Metal Works that later became Araco.
Just briefly ... Gihee the founder of Arakawa left Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (he worked in the sheet metal department) to form his own company Arakawa Auto Body then changed to Araco in the 90’s then to present day Toyota Auto body... interesting guy who founded them ... Kiichiro came to him to make the sheet metal for the SA even though he had left just a few years earlier.
"Gihee's vision for the automobile knew no bounds. In 1975, he decided to fulfill that vision by developing an amphibious car. Basing his design on the Land Cruiser, Gihee's plan was to have five engineers complete the vehicle in two months. But the engineers were continually rushed; with no drawings, they would take Gihee's verbal instructions on what he wanted, and complete it by the next morning. After the prototype was complete, they took it to Kuragaike Lake in Toyota City for a test drive. As the team looked on, the car went through its paces beautifully. It succeeded at traveling over water for a full hour. Coming back on land, however, it slipped from the hook on the rope winch and sank. The prototype was hauled out of the water, but Gihee did not instruct his engineers to try again. Although Gihee's vision was never fulfilled, the pioneering spirit of attempting to build a futuristic vehicle would have a major impact on the later vision of Araco, both in terms of vehicles and interiors."
So he built the second Toyota Amphibious vehicle and the true first and only AFAIK amphibious land cruiser.
It sank lol
But tests were successful it was only when trying to get out of the pond it sunk... the pond so happens to be where Kiichiro Toyoda lived:
These are the only two pics i can find of the amphibious test car... if anybody finds more, love to see them:
Just briefly ... Gihee the founder of Arakawa left Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (he worked in the sheet metal department) to form his own company Arakawa Auto Body then changed to Araco in the 90’s then to present day Toyota Auto body... interesting guy who founded them ... Kiichiro came to him to make the sheet metal for the SA even though he had left just a few years earlier.
"Gihee's vision for the automobile knew no bounds. In 1975, he decided to fulfill that vision by developing an amphibious car. Basing his design on the Land Cruiser, Gihee's plan was to have five engineers complete the vehicle in two months. But the engineers were continually rushed; with no drawings, they would take Gihee's verbal instructions on what he wanted, and complete it by the next morning. After the prototype was complete, they took it to Kuragaike Lake in Toyota City for a test drive. As the team looked on, the car went through its paces beautifully. It succeeded at traveling over water for a full hour. Coming back on land, however, it slipped from the hook on the rope winch and sank. The prototype was hauled out of the water, but Gihee did not instruct his engineers to try again. Although Gihee's vision was never fulfilled, the pioneering spirit of attempting to build a futuristic vehicle would have a major impact on the later vision of Araco, both in terms of vehicles and interiors."
So he built the second Toyota Amphibious vehicle and the true first and only AFAIK amphibious land cruiser.
It sank lol
But tests were successful it was only when trying to get out of the pond it sunk... the pond so happens to be where Kiichiro Toyoda lived:
These are the only two pics i can find of the amphibious test car... if anybody finds more, love to see them:
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