The SA was Toyota's first new passenger car design (as opposed to updating the AA) after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was the first in a family of vehicles before the introduction of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. A series of light trucks also shared the chassis and major components of these passenger cars. All of these vehicles were sold under the Toyopet name.

SA

The SA was Toyota's first true post war design. It differed from all previous Toyota cars by having a 4-cylinder engine (previously a 6-cylinder was used), 4-wheel independent suspension (previously using rigid axles with

leaf springs A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, ...

) and a smaller, "ponton" influenced aerodynamic body. The project was driven by

Kiichiro Toyoda was a Japanese businessman and the son of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda. His decision to change Toyoda's focus from automatic loom manufacture into automobile manufacturing created what would become Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyod ...

under the wisdom of his father's (

Sakichi Toyoda was a Japanese inventor and industrialist. He was born in Kosai, Shizuoka. The son of a farmer and sought-after carpenter, he started the Toyoda family companies. His son, Kiichiro Toyoda, would later establish Japan's largest automaker, Toyo ...

) words, "Stay ahead of the times""Toyota: Fifty Years in Motion", Eiji Toyoda, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1987, , p119 but most of the design work was done by Dr

Kazuo Kumabe Kazuo (カズオ, かずお) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible spellings It has several written forms, and the meaning depends on the characters used (usually kanji, but sometimes hiragana). Common forms include: * 一雄: first son, ...

."Fifty Years of Toyota Concept Cars", in "the wheel extended", vol 17, no.3, 1987, Toyota Motor Corporation, The body was aerodynamic in a style similar to the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

. Only a two-door sedan was made, making it unsuitable for the taxi market. The doors were hinged at the rear (often called

suicide doors A suicide door is an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are perceived as being less safe than a fro ...

). The front window was a single pane of flat glass with a single wiper mounted above the driver. Only

right hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

was offered. Toyota engineers (including Dr Kumabe) had visited

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

before

and had studied the 16-cylinder Auto Union racing car (independent suspension) and

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

designs (independent suspension, aerodynamic bodies, backbone chassis, rear-mounted air-cooled engines, economical production cost)."Autos Made in Japan", Jan P. Norbye, Gerlingen: Bleicher Verlag, 1991, Many Japanese companies had ties with Germany during the war years but most partnered with British or American companies after the war and thus used technologies commonly used in Britain or America. But Toyota did not partner with a foreign company, so it was free to use German designs. Many features of the prototype Beetle were subsequently put into the SA, although the Beetle's rear-mounted air-cooled engine feature was not used. Later on, Toyota revisited the economic principles exemplified by the Beetle when designing the

Publica VEB Typoart was the only type foundry of East Germany. It was a state-owned enterprise ("Volkseigener Betrieb") located in Dresden. The foundry's most influential art directors were Herbert Thannhäuser (until 1963) and Albert Kapr (until 1987). ...

and the Corolla.

Dates and production figures

Although permission to begin full production of passenger cars in Japan was not granted until 1949, limited numbers of cars were permitted to be built from 1947, and the Toyota SA was one such car."The Complete History of the Japanese Car", Marco Ruiz, New York: Portland House, 1986, "Toyota seit 1936", Joachim Kuch, Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag, Artikelnummer 17060 Design work started at the end of 1945 when the GHQ let it be known that authorised commercial production of vehicles for the general public would be commencing soon. This model was introduced in January 1947, with a prototype (which had been under development for more than a year) being completed at that time. Production occurred from October 1947 through May 1952 (overlapping with the 1949-introduced SD), with a total of only 215 being built."The New Encyclopedia of Motorcars: 1885 to the Present",

G.N. Georgano George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017Nick Georgano
Alvis Archive Bl ...

, New York: E. P. Dutton, 3rd revised ed., 1982, The first car to be produced by Toyota in the postwar period was the AC, which had first been produced in 1943-1944. Fifty were built for government and military use in 1947, and three more were assembled in 1948. Since only 54 cars were built by Toyota in 1947, this leaves four Model SA production cars to be built at the end of that year, not counting the prototype. Eighteen SA cars were built in 1948, and from 1949 to 1952, 193 more were built. No breakdown exists between models after 1948; only yearly passenger-car grand totals are extant.

Mechanicals

This model introduced the Type S

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

water-cooled engine, conventionally mounted in the front of the car and driving through the rear wheels. Two small grills at the front allowed air for the engine's radiator. Transmission was by a 3-speed manual gearbox and a

Hotchkiss drive The Hotchkiss drive is a shaft drive form of power transmission. It was the dominant means for front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout cars in the 20th century. The name comes from the French automobile manufacturer Hotchkiss, although other makers, ...

(previous Toyotas used a

torque tube A torque tube system is a power transmission and braking technology that involves a stationary housing around the drive shaft, often used in automobiles with a front engine and rear drive. The torque tube consists of a large diameter stationary h ...

) to a rear-mounted differential. The final drive gear ratio was 7.17:1 . More unconventional was the use of a

backbone chassis Backbone tube chassis is a type of automobile construction chassis that is similar to the body-on-frame design. Instead of a two-dimensional ladder-type structure, it consists of a strong tubular backbone (usually rectangular in cross section) ...

and four-wheel independent suspension.

A-arm In automotive suspension, a control arm, also known as an A-arm, is a hinged suspension link between the chassis and the suspension upright or hub that carries the wheel. In simple terms, it governs a wheel's vertical travel, allowing it to move ...

suspension (short upper arm, long lower arm) with coils was used at the front and

swing axle A swing axle is a simple type of independent (rear wheel) suspension designed and patented by Edmund Rumpler in 1903. This was a revolutionary invention in automotive suspension, allowing driven (powered) wheels to follow uneven road surfaces i ...

suspension with semi-trailing arms,

Panhard rod A Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar, track bar, or track rod) is a suspension link that provides lateral location of the axle. Originally invented by the Panhard automobile company of France in the early twentieth century, this device has been ...

s and a transverse semi-elliptical

leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...

Produced from March 1952 until 1954.

Mechanicals

Same as the SF.

RH series

A further update to the SF but with the newly designed 1.5 liter Type R engine. The RHN's body was made by the New Mitsubishi Heavy Industrial Manufacturing Co. and the RHK's body was made by

Kanto Auto Works was a Japanese car manufacturer. It was a member of the Toyota Group. In July 2012, Kanto Auto Works and two other Toyota subsidiaries were merged to form Toyota Motor East Japan. History In April 1946, Kanto Auto Works was established in Yok ...

, Ltd."Toyota Automobile Museum", http://www.toyota.co.jp/Museum/data_e/a03_08_5.html#2 The transmission was a four-speed manual sliding mesh unit. The BH26 police patrol car sedan was made from the four-cylinder RH sedan by using the Type B six-cylinder engine and a longer front end. Similarly, the BH28 ambulance was made by converting the BH26 police sedan into a van body. The RH was succeeded by the similar 1955 RR

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and the much more modern 1955 RS

Same as the RH except for the Type F engine. The front body was based on the SG light truck, there were no doors and the rear of the body was heavily customised with typical fire appliance accessories (e.g. hoses, axes, ride-on steps, grab bars). In spite of looking like a small truck, the FH24 still used the single rear wheels of the RH passenger car.

References

* Toyota history web page, 1940–1949, http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/history/1940.html * Toyota history web page, 1950–1959, http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/history/1950.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Toyota Sa Cars introduced in 1947 SA Sedans Rear-wheel-drive vehicles 1950s cars Automobiles with backbone chassis