In the summer of 1956, Toyota management sent representatives to Los Angeles to research the possibility of selling Toyota cars in the U.S. Toyota shipped two cars, both a model known as the "Toyopet," for testing on American roads. Toyota...
In the summer of 1956, Toyota management sent representatives to Los Angeles to research the
possibility of selling Toyota cars in the U.S. Toyota shipped two cars, both a model known as the "Toyopet," for testing on American roads.
Toyota needed some time to modify the Toyopet so that it could be legally registered in California. So it was that in December of 1957, a group of Toyota dignitaries had a photograph taken of themselves attaching a license plate to the first Toyota automobile registered in America.http://toyota.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/toyoplate1.jpg
This was a proud moment in the company’s history - Toyota was entering the largest automobile market in the world. Yet, if you look closely at this December 1957 photo, you can see that the date on this license plate is 1956. What gives? Why the disparity?
A quick look at the history of license plates answers that riddle.
Automobile license plates first appeared in 1903, and virtually every state had them by 1918. Early plates were made of leather, iron, porcelain, copper or rubber. During WWII, they even were made of soybean fiber.
http://toyota.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/toyoplate2.jpg
In these early years, new plates were often issued each year. The plates would have a different background color each year so that police officers could easily spot if a car was current in its registration.
In 1937, Connecticut began issuing semi-permanent plates that were intended to be used for 11 years. All of the plates were stamped with the date 1937. Each year, a tab displaying the current year was issued, and the owner placed the tab over the 1937. Other states, including California, eventually adopted this system.
This explains why the Toyopet in the photograph has a California plate stamped 1956. The next step would have involved applying the 1957 tag to cover the 1956. But clearly, that wasn’t as photographically dramatic as actually screwing the plate onto the car. So that’s why we see a 1956 plate – which would have been yellow, with black numbers and letters - being attached in late 1957.
There: Mystery solved.
- Jason Bell and Dennis Preisler, Toyota Motor Sales Archives
More...
In the summer of 1956, Toyota management sent representatives to Los Angeles to research the
possibility of selling Toyota cars in the U.S. Toyota shipped two cars, both a model known as the "Toyopet," for testing on American roads. Toyota needed some time to modify the Toyopet so that it could be legally registered in California. So it was that in December of 1957, a group of Toyota dignitaries had a photograph taken of themselves attaching a license plate to the first Toyota automobile registered in America.http://toyota.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/toyoplate1.jpg
This was a proud moment in the company’s history - Toyota was entering the largest automobile market in the world. Yet, if you look closely at this December 1957 photo, you can see that the date on this license plate is 1956. What gives? Why the disparity?
A quick look at the history of license plates answers that riddle.
Automobile license plates first appeared in 1903, and virtually every state had them by 1918. Early plates were made of leather, iron, porcelain, copper or rubber. During WWII, they even were made of soybean fiber.
http://toyota.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/toyoplate2.jpg In these early years, new plates were often issued each year. The plates would have a different background color each year so that police officers could easily spot if a car was current in its registration.
In 1937, Connecticut began issuing semi-permanent plates that were intended to be used for 11 years. All of the plates were stamped with the date 1937. Each year, a tab displaying the current year was issued, and the owner placed the tab over the 1937. Other states, including California, eventually adopted this system.
This explains why the Toyopet in the photograph has a California plate stamped 1956. The next step would have involved applying the 1957 tag to cover the 1956. But clearly, that wasn’t as photographically dramatic as actually screwing the plate onto the car. So that’s why we see a 1956 plate – which would have been yellow, with black numbers and letters - being attached in late 1957.
There: Mystery solved.
- Jason Bell and Dennis Preisler, Toyota Motor Sales Archives
More...