Retro Concepts: 1962 Toyota Publica Sports

The Toyota Publica Sports was a concept car introduced for the first time at the 1962 Tokyo Auto Show. It was a preview of Toyota’s very first production sports car, the Toyota Sports 800. The Toyota Publica Sports featured an unusual sliding canopy which provided access to the interior. There were no doors, and the occupants had to climb over the sides to gain entry. The canopy could be completely removed to turn the Toyota Publica Sports into a dinky roadster.

For a first try at a sports car, the Toyota Publica Sports was quite attractive. It wasn’t particularly stunning, but it was also far from ugly, especially with the roof removed. The Publica name was taken from a much more pedestrian small family car the company started producing the year before. Publica had been selected by Toyota as the company wanted to give the car mass market appeal. They thought giving it a name which sounded similar to Public might help.

Powering the 1962 Toyota Publica Sports was a tiny little air-cooled 0.7 litre 2-cylinder boxer engine which produced just 28 horsepower. To put it kindly, performance was not one of the Toyota Publica Sports concept’s strong points – even though the car made use of aviation derived technology and materials to keep the weight to a minimum. Thankfully, buyers of the production Toyota Sports 800 (1965 – 1969) were treated to a slightly larger 0.8 litre engine which produced a much more usable 45 horsepower.

The interior of the Toyota Publica Sports was very minimalist. There was two low-rise bucket seats, a simple instrument cluster and very little in the way of comfort features. No radio, heater, or even glovebox.

A replica of the Toyota Publica Sports concept is on display at the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagakute, Japan.

Toyota Publica Sports concept specifications:

Engine: 697 cc air-cooled OHV 2-cylinder
Power: 28 horsepower
Length: 3,510 mm (138.2 in)
Width: 1,454 mm (57.2 in)
Height: 1,180 mm (46.5 in)
Weight: 690 kg (1,521 lb)