Toyota Publica /

The Toyota Publica was a small car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota from 1961 to 1978. Conceived as a family car to fulfil the requirements of the "national car concept", it was the smallest Toyota car during that period and was superseded in that role by the Toyota Starlet, which itself started out as a version of the Publica. It was available as a 2-door vehicle only, but in a selection of body styles, ranging from the base sedan through a station wagon, convertible, coupé and even a pickup, which outlived the other models by a decade, and spawned other models, such as the Toyota Sports 800 or Toyota MiniAce. The origins of the Publica can be traced to the "national car" concept of the omnipotent Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which was announced in 1955. The concept stipulated for a vehicle fulfilling several requirements, like maximum speed over 100 km/h (62 mph), weight below 400 kg (882 lb), fuel consumption not exceeding 1 litre per 30 km at the average speed of 60 km/h (37 mph) on a level road, but also notably the requirement that the car would not break down or require significant repairs for at least 100,000 kilometres (62,000