Established in 1973 in El Segundo, California, CALTY was the idea of Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda and Eiji Toyoda. The new studio was deliberately kept quiet, allowing it to develop a unique identity and in theory provide fresh, creative inspiration to Toyota’s global design headquarters in Japan.

When CALTY decided to expand and relocate, it moved down the coast to Newport Beach in 1978, which was also the home of Road&Track magazine, another California original, and where I once was an editor. That same year, CALTY’s first production car design, the second-generation Celica, became a global success.

During the 1990s, CALTY had a major role in designing Toyota’s production vehicles for the North American market. Notable designs include the 1995 Tacoma, the 1997 Prius and the 2000 Avalon.

It also worked on designs that didn’t make production, notably the fourth generation Supra, or A80 as it was known internally. CALTY’s intent was to take the Supra in the direction of a “pure sports car,” rather than continue with the previous models’ Grand Touring character. They gave it a long hood and a linear bulge so the engine bay could accommodate a large inline-6 engine. The fourth generation Supra was introduced in 1993.