Show off your vehicle to some Toyota Engineers!!

[lamber74]

Hello All,

Please excuse the fact that I am very new to this forum and that this is my first post.

Also, please let me know if there would be a more appropriate place to post this.

I am an engineer at Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Saline, MI (right outside Ann Arbor). TTC is the headquarters for Toyota's North American Design and Research. We design and evaluate North American vehicles such as the Sienna, Avalon, Camry, Tundra, Tacoma, and Venza.

Every year we have a company wide car show for our team members to show off their personal cars.

This year, we'd like to extend an invitation to members of local car clubs/forums to come and bring their car out and have it displayed in the show. Due to space limitations, we will be selecting 5 vehicles from each Toyota brand (Toyota/Scion/Lexus).

The car show will be held on Friday, July 20th at our facility from 11:00am - 1:00pm. Lunch will be provided, several cars will be on display, and we will have the Toyota m&m Nascar Racecar there as well as Nascar driving simulations. You will also have the opportunity to meet the actual engineers that design the many Toyota's you see on the road today as well as chief engineers and vice presidents. Entrants will also be eligible to win a trophy.

If you are interested in attending the show, please send me a pm with your email address. I will then send you an email and ask for a picture of your car and a list of any modifications / additional info. Our committee will then choose the 5 vehicle's and notify the respective owners.

Due Date for Submissions is 7/6/2012

It would be great to have a few FJs in the show to beat out the Jeep Wrangler that won last year!

Thank you and hope meet some of you soon!

Mike

 

[TallCanDan]

Wow this is cool but I am way too far away ( San Diego). Do you own a Land Cruiser yourself?

 

[lamber74]

No, unfortunately I do not. I am currently driving a 2006 4Runner 4x4 sport edition and have a 2012 trail edition on the way from Japan.

There is a 1968 FJ40 for sale near me that I am interested in and I happened to stumble across this forum during my research of that vehicle.

There are some awesome cars on the forum and it would be sweet to have a couple at the event!

 

[highonpottery]

This is VERY cool - definitely the right place to ask since there are some extremely awesome rigs here on this board and I hope you get some good responses -- but what would be even better is to see more coming from YOUR end (as a Toyota Engineer) in terms of designing us some more off-road friendly NEW Toyotas for the US market. I'm sure I'm not alone when I dream about being able to one day purchase a brand new solid axle Cruiser or other model Yota in the US. Only then will Toyota be the true dominant force to contend with and will most definitely lay the smack down on those Heeps.

Perhaps Toyota is just being sneaky and waiting in the shadows while they perfect their secret modernized FJ40 that theyre gonna blow us all away with???

 

[e9999]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the event!
Good to have you here and for the company to interact with enthusiasts.
Best place to get info on a possible FJ40. (Although you should go straight for an 80... )

 

[2wheelbob]

I won't be able to make it but could you please ask the VP's and marketing guys to bring the turbo Diesel Land Cruiser to the American market? And don't give me that line about "there is no interest" or "the market wouldn't support the effort"! If you watch and see how fast non-American spec trucks (especially diesels) sell on this forum and Ebay, I bet Toyota would be surprised! Oh, and thanks for a great product!

 

[Blue77FJ40]

Also, we want to see straight axle vehicles again, please.

 

[elripster]

Echoing the request for a straight axle at least as an option.

Frank

 

[OGBeno]

Wow impressive indeed.

Kudos to the Toyota engineer.

 

[lamber74]

Thanks a lot for all of your support!

We are very excited that we have been able to get some interest from some local Toyota owners to come show off their customized vehicles. This should help ingrain the idea of what Toyota customers really buy, and use, their vehicles for and give us some great inspiration for our next vehicle projects.

And ...
Trust me I definitely sympathize with your desires to have more true off-road components on vehicles, but with the market the way it is I am happy to still have the ability to get a body-on-frame SUV. LOL.

I will definitely continue to watch (and hopefully someday contribute to) this forum. I am really wrapped up in the "Saving The Old Rustbucket" thread. Sea Knight can really write!

 

[warpdriv]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for reaching out to us. You will not find a better place for land cruiser fans. If y'all ever wanted to do market research, this would be the place.

You'll find that lots of people want diesels. It's the only way to make a heavy vehicle be more efficient. Y'all are probably doing this, but if you really want to know what we want, look at the Jeep JK Rubicon. Something that people always put in vehicle is an insulated box that keeps things cool. Wither a ARB frig or an ice chest. The cooled center console was an option on the 80s.

I understand that y'all sell what the market bears. If y'all brought in some of the 70 series, you will see a new market.

Thank you for your time.

 

[orangefj45]

very cool.


too bad there's no way i could possibly make it but definetley looking forward to some pics.


thanks for posting this on here.



georg

 

[Nottajeep]

It would be interesting to know how many Mr. T employees lurk in the shadows of IH8MUD.

Please accept this "Thanks" for you reaching out to this community.
We welcome more interaction with Toyota.

IMHO, this section of Mud gets buried in the noise for the mostpart. I would recommend this thread be sent to a more visible place such as chat.

 

[TexasJack]

Welcome to Mud. Most of us got here because we were researched how to make our vehicles more capable. I found this site through the Lone Star Landcruiser's site and I have been on here ever since. The people on this site are some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet on how to create a great SUV (not a vehicle for the Mom to take the kids to the mall in but a real sporting vehicle).

If you talk to individuals who use their vehicles for serious sporting activities, either off-roading or hunting, you'll find they all want a vehicle that is more rugged and capable than what they can buy off the lot. There are a lot more of these people than the automobile industry believes. Many of them simply buy pickup trucks because they believe this is the best possible vehicle they can get for ruggedness and off-road capability.

Many of us on MUD believe that Toyota is seriously missing the boat here. What is needed from Toyota is a vehicle with solid front and rear axles, locking differentials, hardened front and rear bumpers, rocker panel protection and protection for the transmission and transfer case. Higher suspension and larger tires would also be an appealing option.

The vehicle currently available on the market that best fits this bill today is the Jeep Rubicon and if Toyota took a hard look at this they would find that sales for this vehicle are pretty brisk. Many people purchasing the Rubicon would likely purchase a Toyota instead if one meeting the criteria above were available. The 70 series currently sold in many parts of the world meet this very criteria yet it isn't sold here in the US. Toyota is simply giving business away by not offering this vehicle in the US.

I talked to the owner of a Toyota dealership in the DFW area and he told me the reason that it isn't sold here is because Toyota is focused on producing and selling the most fuel efficient fleet of autos in America and that solid front axle vehicles are simply not fuel efficient. They are also more expensive to build and offer a rougher ride. I understand that goal but achieving that goal at the expense of customer satisfaction doesn't seem to make much sense.

That leaves Toyota enthusiasts who enjoy using their vehicles for sporting purposes and want solid axles with the option of modifying an older Toyota with solid axles or buying a Rubicon. Most of us on this site opted for the former but certainly have considered purchasing a 70 series if it were available.

Toyota is leaving significant money on the table and loosing a rapidly growing market segment. As a result, strategic company goals need to be reexamined and potentially modified.

Please pass this along to your management if you get a chance. I know many of us on Mud would very much appreciate it.

 

[NorCalDoug]

Awesome!
I wish I could attend, but that's a bit far for me to drive this summer.

I know there are several Mud members in MI, hopefully one or several of them can make it out there for your event.

 

[vipergrhd]

So how was the show?please post some pics or it never happened.LOL.