Q&A: When Japanese vehicles were assembled in Cape Breton

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 23, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The archetypal Japanese cars successful North America rolled disconnected the assembly enactment successful Cape Breton, opening successful 1968 with an Isuzu Bellett at the Toyota works successful Point Edward.

A twelvemonth later, the archetypal Toyota — a Corolla — followed successful its tyre tracks.

Cape Breton's transportation to Toyota each started with the Canadian stereo TV shaper Clairtone and Frank Sobey.

On Thursday, CBC Radio's Information Morning Cape Breton interviewed Dale Edward Johnson, an award-winning automotive journalist. Johnson recently gave a presentation connected the Cape Breton Toyota works done the Canadian Automotive Museum successful Oshawa, Ont.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

LISTEN | Listen to the afloat interrogation with Dale Edward Johnson:

What was it that caught your attraction astir the Toyota works successful Cape Breton? 

Well, it conscionable seemed to person specified an improbable beginning. You mentioned Clairtone and they were this incredibly palmy Canadian institution that made truly high-end stereos starting successful the 1950s. And they were some truly precocious prime stereos, but they were besides a large deed due to the fact that of their precise futuristic styling. Their income went from thing similar $60,000 successful 1958 to $11,000,000 by the mid-1960s. And they were looking to diversify.

The 2 radical down this were Peter Munk and David Gilmour. And in 1964, they bought the rights to market and past nutrient Japanese cars successful Canada. Two brands: Isuzu and Toyota. Most of the imports successful those days were from Europe. This was thing each caller — cars coming from Japan. But they got going successful 1964. They acceptable up this institution that could import cars. They started importing these vehicles, but of course the adjacent measurement was to really nutrient them successful Canada, and that's wherever Sydney comes in.

Frank Sobey, helium had been politician of Stellarton for years and of people down the Sobeys market store chain. And astatine that clip helium was caput of Industrial Estates, which was the Nova Scotia Crown corp that was trying to assistance diversify the system arsenic it was transitioning from the mining industry. In 1963, helium had helped Volvo acceptable up store successful Dartmouth, bringing parts implicit from Sweden and assembled the cars successful Canada.

So this was benignant of the exemplary that this caller institution wanted to use. So that's however this plant got started successful Sydney — done Clairtone and done the Nova Scotia government.

What tin you archer america astir the cognition here?

The archetypal extremity was to person 1,000 cars a twelvemonth rolling disconnected the assembly enactment and they were going to person 50 employees to start. And of people they were hoping to turn this. So immoderate beauteous rosy projections successful 1965.

But unfortunately, conscionable aft this clip successful 1966, Clairtone started moving into fiscal problems. In fact, again — with the assistance of Frank Sobey — Clairtone relocated from Toronto to Stellarton successful bid to chopped their costs. So a large caller mill is built successful Stellarton. The gathering is inactive standing, but Clairtone was going done these fiscal troubles.

In the publication by Nina Monk astir her father's company, she says [her] father's short-lived ambition to go an automotive magnate hastened Clairtone's downfall. There simply wasn't capable wealth oregon managerial endowment to spell around.

And betwixt mid-1966 and mid-1967, Clairtone and this caller car institution some fell apart. So they were some struggling. Clairtone conscionable dispersed itself excessively thin and that's wherefore some companies were struggling.

So getting the works up and moving was past delayed from 1965 — erstwhile plans were archetypal announced — [and it] didn't get going until December of 1967. But it did so get going.

In 1967, the archetypal assembly enactment for Japanese cars successful North America opened successful Sydney astatine Point Edward, a erstwhile subject facility. They started turning retired thing called the Isuzu Bellett sedans, and by January 1968, a full of 80 of these cars had been assembled astatine the plant. During the calendar twelvemonth of 1968, a full of 584 Isuzu Belletts were made truthful this was small but it was a accumulation line. They were cranking retired cars and it meant a batch of jobs for radical successful the country too.

So they ended up producing thing similar 9,000 vehicles betwixt 1967 to 1975, erstwhile they yet unopen down. Do you cognize if the Toyota institution recalls this works astatine all?

Yes, they bash indeed. I work astir this works years ago. It was precise tiny but astatine the time, I recovered a clipping [that said] it was pumping $6,000 a week into Cape Breton's economy. But yes, Toyota is precise alert of this. Last summer, Toyota marked its 60th day of selling cars successful Canada. They organized a circuit that went from St. John's to Victoria and they invited journalists to instrumentality portion successful sections of this cross-country travel to spot immoderate of the facilities and dealerships and truthful on. I was invited to thrust the conception from Halifax to Montreal, but I was ever funny astir this works successful Sydney, truthful I really arrived a fewer days aboriginal truthful I could spell to Cape Breton and instrumentality a look astatine wherever this installation was. That was a halt for the archetypal radical that went from St. John's to Halifax was to halt by the tract of this archetypal works successful Sydney, truthful they're good alert of it for sure.

What does Toyota accidental astir the site?

I spoke to Stephen Beatty, who was an enforcement with Toyota. He has since retired. And I mean, it's conscionable a vacant batch present wherever the works was. But helium said that it was precise worthwhile. He said, and I've got a mates of quotes present which I deliberation explicate it well. He said you had to participate caller markets and you had to recognize what they were about. You had to physique caller vehicles that would conscionable the needs of the section markets. And Point Edward and Canadian Motor Industries were benignant of the proving grounds for that implicit time. So it was to go much alert of the Canadian marketplace, if you will.

But helium besides said unluckily that works was virtually conscionable excessively acold away. You had to bring knockdown kits from Japan each the mode crossed to Nova Scotia and from determination administer them backmost crossed Canada. But helium besides said it was a bully program of however to enactment with the Auto Pact and different regulatory requirements of the day.

But yet it was conscionable not a financially viable manufacturing operation.