CarGene
Toshihiro Okada

Toshihiro Okada

ToyotaDevelopment lead

Created the first Soarer as a car able to cruise Germany's autobahn at 200 km/h, and was its chief engineer through the third generation

Timeline

  1. 1959

    Joined

    Toyota Motor Corporation Industrial Design Section, Engineering Department

  2. 1981
    Soarer 1st generation
    Soarer 1st generation

    1981–1986Development lead

    The 5M twin-cam that looked like a V12

    While he was struggling because no existing engine could reach 200 km/h cruising, Okada found a strange engine that looked like a V12 in the engine test building. It was a 5M converted to twin-cam, with the head split left and right. Wanting it as a dedicated engine for the Soarer, he asked for formal development through the Product Planning Office rather than as the engine division's own project. The first Soarer was fitted with this 5M-GEU twin-cam.

  3. 1986
    Soarer 2nd generation
    Soarer 2nd generation

    1986–1991Development lead

    An instrument panel that doesn't reflect

    The second generation kept only the look that identified it as a Soarer at a glance and changed the content completely. In the top-grade Grande Belle interior, the instrument panel, which reflected in the glass even when made black, was finished by vacuum-forming suede skin imported from Benecke of Germany, which he had found at a European motor show. Having struggled with target costing on the first generation, he found it easier to get understanding for the second thanks to the first generation's track record.

  4. 1991
    Soarer 3rd generation
    Soarer 3rd generation

    1991–2001Development lead

Connections

  • Isao Tsuzuki

    Isao Tsuzuki

    Subordinate

    As CE, Okada was in charge of both the Soarer and the Supra, and the Supra was handled by assistant chief engineer Tsuzuki, who supported the CE.

Profile

Graduated from Kyoto Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Arts and Design. Chief engineer for development of the first through third generations of the Soarer.

Translated from Japanese sources.

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