Toyota’s 1977 Shoe-Shaped Aluminum Concept Weighed Just 992 Pounds
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Toyota’s 1977 Shoe-Shaped Aluminum Concept Weighed Just 992 Pounds

Today, cars more and more use aluminum physique panels to cut back weight and enhance effectivity. The light-weight materials was far much less frequent in automobiles within the Seventies exterior of high-end efficiency purposes. Toyota made an early effort to vary this and produce the steel to extra mainstream machines with its weird-looking 1977 Toyota Aluminium Body Experimental Vehicle idea at that yr’s Tokyo Motor Show.

Let’s be sincere, the ABEV has a weird exterior design. You would possibly anticipate the lengthy hood cover a giant engine, however that is not the case. The idea’s powerplant displaces a mere 547 cubic centimeters.

 

The huge entrance finish results in a stumpy passenger compartment. Unfortunately, we could not discover any pictures of the cabin, however the doorways slide rearward to open, just like the rear doorways you’d discover on a minivan. There’s room for 2 individuals inside.

Toyota’s 1977 press launch concerning the ABEV stated the idea got here “in response to social calls for the conservation of energy and natural resources.” The aim was to create a light-weight car with improved gas effectivity. “Its development was guided by the principle of a minimum of consumption for a maximum of work,” the corporate stated.

The idea measured 140.2 inches (3,560 millimeters) lengthy, 58.74 inches (1,492 mm) huge, and 45.51 inches (1,156 mm) tall. For comparability, the Toyota Corolla Hatchback presently out there within the US is 172 inches lengthy and 70.5 inches huge, that means the ABEV is a critically compact machine.

The aluminum physique stored the idea’s weight down to only 992 kilos (450 kilograms). Toyota claimed the ABEV obtained an estimated 82 miles per gallon (35 kilometers per liter) whereas touring 37 miles per hour (60 kilometers per hour). 

After Toyota displayed the ABEV on the 1977 Tokyo Motor Show, the idea appeared on the duvet of the automaker’s 1978 company brochure, proven under.

 

Modern Toyotas make intensive use of aluminum. For instance, the newest Tacoma makes use of the steel in its higher physique and tailgate to save lots of weight. The GR Corolla has the light-weight materials for the hood and entrance doorways. So it is secure to say the ABEV was a profitable precursor for Toyota’s future endeavors.