There’s hardly a person who doesn’t know Toyota or Nissan. But it hasn’t always been this way. In the US, before 1958 only a handful of people held their hands on the wheel of a Toyota or Datsun – the export name of Nissan.

Officially, both brands entered the US market on January 9, 1958, at the Los Angeles Imported Car Show, featuring Toyopet Crown and Datsun-1000.

The American drivers and auto critics alike weren’t impressed by Toyopet. Although marketed to the ...