1. Toyota – A1
In May 1935, Toyota finished the A1 prototype and a Buddhist monk blessed it during a special ritual. Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of the Toyota company, then drove the car to the burial site of his father. His father had provided the first capital to get the company started. The A1 had a 6-cylinder engine of 62 horsepower, with the engine resembling a Chevy and the chassis and electrical components resembling Ford automobiles. The following year, 1936, the A1 was redesigned and was henceforth known as the AA. The original AA can be seen at the Louwman Automobile Museum in the Netherlands.
2. Volkswagen - The Beetle
Adolf Hitler had specific requirements for Ferdinand Porsche, an automotive engineer with a car design studio. He wanted a vehicle that could seat five people, reach a speed of 100 km/h, and use no more than 6 liters of fuel per 100 km. At the same time, it should cost less than 1,000 Reichsmarks. As this was an immense task for Ferdinand, he partnered with the German industrialist Fritz Neumeyer to complete it. This is how Volkswagen was established, and Jewish prisoners comprised 4 out of 5 of its staff at the outset.
3. Fiat 4 HP
The first Fiat factory opened in 1900. 35 workers worked there, and only 24 vehicles were produced - all of them Fiat 4 HP models. The maximum speed of the vehicle was 35 km/h, and it consumed 8 liters of fuel per 100 km. Today there are only 4 remnants of these models - 2 in the Turin Motor Vehicle Museum in Italy, one in the National Motor Museum of Great Britain, and one in the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, USA.
4. Renault Voiturette 1CV
The name "Voiturette" survived through 5 generations of models, with the first of them coming off the production line in 1898. The first vehicle produced by the company was sold to a friend of Louis Renault's father after he drove it with Louis at the end of 1898. After that, 12 more vehicles were created, which were all sold in one night. The reason why this car was snapped up so quickly was its ability to "climb" uphill streets without any problem and without wasting too much gas. Its maximum speed was 32 km/h, and production of the other generations continued until 1903.
5. Ford Model A
The Ford company began production of its first car in 1903, and it could be purchased with 2 seats for $800 or 4 seats for $900 - both versions were sold in red only. The vehicle weighed only 562 kg and reached a maximum speed of 45 km/h, and it was very successful. Although Ford marketed the Model A as "the most reliable machine in the world", the vehicle suffered from a host of problems that were common in cars of the time, including engine overheating and the transmission belt slipping off.
6. Nissan – DAT
In 1911, even before Nissan was even called by that name and was known as Kwaishinsha, the company created its first vehicle called DAT - the initials formed by the names of the investors in the company. After several years, a smaller version of the DAT was released, which can be seen in the picture, and was given the name "Datsun." The name was originally spelled in English as Datson, meaning "Son of the Dat," but the name was changed to Datsun because the Japanese word son means "loss."
7. Honda – T360
In 1961, Japanese engineer and industrialist Soichiro Honda was faced with a bill that was intended to limit the number of car manufacturers in the country. He was unsuccessful in his opposition to the bill, so he decided that the only way he could make enough money was to quickly enter the automotive market. In 1963, Honda debuted the T360, a two-seater car that came in blue, which preceded their S500 sports car by only four months. A total of 108,960 units of the T360 were produced.
8. BMW Dixie
In October 1928, BMW purchased the Dixie company and its vehicle model. As a result, BMW rechristened the model as the BMW 3/15 and then proceeded to manufacture it from 1927 to 1932, producing a total of 28,283 units. The vehicle model had 4 generations before BMW shifted its focus to building sports and luxury cars.
9. Ferrari 125 S
In 1947, two Ferrari 125 S cars were the first to roll out of the Ferrari factory. However, this was not the first model that Enzo Ferrari had built. Before this came his Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, which was quite similar in design. The S 125 was put to the test in the Circuito di Piacenza race, but it failed to reach the finish line. Fortunately, it was able to win its first competition at the Rome Grand Prix two weeks later.
10. Peugeot - the three-wheeled steam-powered vehicle
Last but not least, the first Peugeot car was not even named, nor was it marketed for sale. Instead, it was created for a demonstration at the Paris World Fair in 1889. Four examples of this model were made, and they were very heavy and took a long time to get started. Soon after, in 1890, the idea of using steam to power vehicles was dropped and they started building cars with internal combustion engines. Despite this, the vehicle was more advanced than others of its kind at the time.
