I say facts, they came mainly from Wikipedia, so who knows?
Anyway, I've seen this in town a few times but have never been able to get a pic of it, which is disappointing because it is, IMHO, very, very cool. Today however.....
I now know (thanks to Wikipedia, so maybe I should say alledgedly in front of all of this) that:
- It is a Second generation CROWN, an S40, built between 1962 and 1967.
- This generation was the first to be assembled in Australia, from CKD kits, by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) in Port Melbourne.
- AMI was born out of Standard Motor Products Ltd, which started assembling Standards in 1952.
- In 1958 it was renamed Australian Motor Industries and formed a new subsidiary to assemble Mercedes Benz until 1961 when they ran into financial trouble and sold the franchise back to MB Germany.
- AMI also assembled Ferguson tractors, and held the Triumph franchise.
- In 1960 they started assembling AMCs from CKD kits.
- In 1963 they got the Toyota franchise and assembled the first ever Toyota built outside Japan in April 1963. It was a Toyota Tiara.
- Toyota bought AMI and it eventually became AMI Toyota Limited in 1985.
- In 1987 Toyota bought the remaining shares and the company became Toyota Motor Corporation Australia.
If you want to know even more, then Wikipedia is your friend.
Anyway, I've seen this in town a few times but have never been able to get a pic of it, which is disappointing because it is, IMHO, very, very cool. Today however.....
I now know (thanks to Wikipedia, so maybe I should say alledgedly in front of all of this) that:
- It is a Second generation CROWN, an S40, built between 1962 and 1967.
- This generation was the first to be assembled in Australia, from CKD kits, by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) in Port Melbourne.
- AMI was born out of Standard Motor Products Ltd, which started assembling Standards in 1952.
- In 1958 it was renamed Australian Motor Industries and formed a new subsidiary to assemble Mercedes Benz until 1961 when they ran into financial trouble and sold the franchise back to MB Germany.
- AMI also assembled Ferguson tractors, and held the Triumph franchise.
- In 1960 they started assembling AMCs from CKD kits.
- In 1963 they got the Toyota franchise and assembled the first ever Toyota built outside Japan in April 1963. It was a Toyota Tiara.
- Toyota bought AMI and it eventually became AMI Toyota Limited in 1985.
- In 1987 Toyota bought the remaining shares and the company became Toyota Motor Corporation Australia.
If you want to know even more, then Wikipedia is your friend.
