# Did Toyota have a different logo back in the '70s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058 "2007-05-07T03:02:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/1 "2007-05-07T03:02:52Z")
I have some vague memory of thinking it had stars and an oval in it, but all I can come up with is a Subaru logo, and that’s not what I’m thinking of. So am I imagining it or was there a different logo back then? (Or did perhaps a specific model have its own logo?) Edited to add: I did try searching, but tonight my Google-fu is more like Google: “F-U!” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/2 "2007-05-07T03:08:38Z")
I don’t believe Toyota had a logo back then. There was a big deal when they came up with their current logo, since it was their first. I don’t know if this was only for the US market only. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/3 "2007-05-07T03:19:31Z")
[All you’d ever want to know.](http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/traditions/nov_dec_04.html) Toyota has an older logo, used in Japan, with the word written out in Katakana script. In the US, all they used before the ellipses was the word TOYOTA in block capitals. [More car logo histories.](http://gawlowski.com/matt/cars/car_logos.html) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/4 "2007-05-07T03:24:41Z")
I actually found that second link of yours in my Googling. So I wonder what I’m remembering? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/5 "2007-05-07T03:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] In the US, all they used before the ellipses was the word TOYOTA in block capitals. [/QUOTE] Funny, I always thought the old logo was OYO, and they only made pickup trucks. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/6 "2007-05-07T03:51:45Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Funny, I always thought the old logo was OYO, and they only made pickup trucks. [/QUOTE] No, it was TOY on our FJ Land Cruisers. We’d remove the OTA because the FJ was our toy. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/7 "2007-05-07T03:53:38Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/8 "2007-05-07T04:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I actually found that second link of yours in my Googling. So I wonder what I’m remembering? [/QUOTE] There was a serif script TOYOTA and a vaguely-Pontiac-ish vertical dart with a crossbar. Check out the grill on [this truck](http://media.dealerfusion.com/images/000291-TOYCAMP.jpg) for an example. I learned to drive stick on a 1976 long-bed Toyota truck and I know that the logo appeared in one or two places on that vehicle. I don’t know how common it was, though. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/9 "2007-05-07T04:20:12Z")
Stars in an oval sounds like the Subaru logo. It’s an oval containing a representation of the pleiades, or seven sisters, constellation. Oops, it is pleiades, but not the seven sisters. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/10 "2007-05-07T04:23:58Z")
[QUOTE=Purd Werfect] Stars in an oval sounds like the Subaru logo. It’s an oval containing a representation of the pleiades, or seven sisters, constellation. [/QUOTE] Yeah I mentioned the Subaru logo in my OP, and said that isn’t what I’m thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/11 "2007-05-07T04:24:28Z")
My old 1978 Corolla had the design from **Jurph** ’s pickup picture on the hubcaps, but aside from that, the only “logo” was the still-used TOYOTA name plate. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/12 "2007-05-07T04:26:09Z")
Truly I am piss-poor at comprehension, or at least attention to detail, at times. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/13 "2007-05-07T04:28:59Z")
There was _indeed_ a different Toyota logo back in the 70s. Trying to think how to describe it. It, too, was a stylized “T” but not one made of two ovals like the modern Toyota logo. Or two ovals within a third larger oval, whatever; it wasn’t like that. I think it had a crown in it. A T with a crown or a T with the top crossbar also being a crown or some such thing. Looking for an example. EDIT: Hmm, on second thought it might have been a “C” with a crown, not a T. All of their models used to start with a “C” (in English at any rate): Corona, Corolla, Cressida, Celica, … ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/14 "2007-05-07T05:10:35Z")
Damn, that [old logo](http://www.cargurus.com/images/c4160/pic-43189.jpeg) was hard to find! This is the best picture I could find, and one of the few I could find at all. In this picture it looks like a closed loop but I think it was actually open at the right to make a very elongated C; and what I referred to as a “crown” actually consisted of 3 stars, I guess; to me it looked like a crown at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/15 "2007-05-07T05:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=Purd Werfect] It’s an oval containing a representation of the pleiades, or seven sisters, constellation. Oops, it is pleiades, but not the seven sisters. [/QUOTE] No, you were right the first time. [The Pleiades is the Seven Sisters.](http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/) ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/16 "2007-05-07T11:27:55Z")
Are you thinking of the shift to the brand name Nissan as the Datsun name was phased out in the early 80s? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/17 "2007-05-07T12:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Damn, that [old logo](http://www.cargurus.com/images/c4160/pic-43189.jpeg) was hard to find! [/QUOTE] I’d never try to out-guess **Opal** , but I’ll be willing to bet that’s what she’s remembering. I had forgotten that logo, which I think they used on both Coronas and Corollas at one time or another. Seems like my '78 had that logo on the center button of the steering wheel, now that I think of it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/18 "2007-05-07T15:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Damn, that [old logo](http://www.cargurus.com/images/c4160/pic-43189.jpeg) was hard to find! This is the best picture I could find, and one of the few I could find at all. In this picture it looks like a closed loop but I think it was actually open at the right to make a very elongated C; and what I referred to as a “crown” actually consisted of 3 stars, I guess; to me it looked like a crown at any rate. [/QUOTE] YES! That is what I was thinking of! I was starting to think I was just crazy! _BIG SLOPPY KISS_ _cough_ Uh, sorry, got a little carried away there. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/19 "2007-05-07T15:44:35Z")
But that logo wasn’t used on all Toyotas, was it? I think just Corolla and Coronas, right? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058/20 "2007-05-07T16:15:32Z")
I know my 82’ Corolla Tercel SR5 had a “T” similar to this [(top of page)](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.logoshak.com/~asgsport/images3/Toyota.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.logoshak.com/&h=272&w=1005&sz=6&hl=en&start=16&tbnid=A32MdbftxF__uM:&tbnh=40&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtoyota%2Blogos%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN) on the rear of the car. But I think it was only on Tercels. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-toyota-have-a-different-logo-back-in-the-70s/403058.md?page=2)