Superior Selections of MONOZUKURI ItemsToyota Automobile Museum

From steam-powered cars to gasoline-powered cars

The world’s first automobile is said to have been a steam-powered car that was invented in France in 1769. The gasoline engine was invented in the second half of the 19th century, and it was initially installed in two-wheeled vehicles and horse-drawn carriages. In Germany, Karl Benz manufactured and sold a three-wheeled automobile in 1886, and around the same time, Gottlieb Daimler produced a four-wheeled automobile equipped with an engine of his own design. The 20th century brought explosive growth in the use of automobiles in France and America, ushering in the Age of the Automobile.

The first automobile produced in Japan was Yamaba's Steam Car, which was made in 1904. The year 1907 saw the birth of Japan’s first gasoline-powered automobile, the Yoshida-shiki ""Takuri."" About ten of those vehicles were sold. Mass production of automobiles in Japan began with the establishment in 1925 of the DAT Motorcar Company, the predecessor of the Nissan Motor Company, followed by the establishment in 1933 of Toyota Industries Corporation’s automobile division, the predecessor of the Toyota Motor Corporation.

160 classic cars on display

The Toyota Automobile Museum provides an introduction to the history of the automobile, with approximately 160 vehicles on display, including gasoline-powered cars from the dawn of the automotive age and Japanese and foreign vehicles that symbolize various eras.

In the Main Building, visitors can get an unbroken view of the advance of motorization in Japan, the U.S., and Europe up to the present and of the interaction between Japan and the West. In the Annex Building, the history of motorization in postwar Japan is presented together with everyday products from the period.

The vehicles on display are maintained in basic operating condition, and demonstration runs are conducted every year in the spring and fall.