“Canada’s Car Company.” The automaker behind that tagline is of course Toyota Canada, which sells more cars here than any other. And with the division celebrating 60 years of operation in our country, bright minds came up with the idea of celebrating it with a little 9,000-km, coast-to-coast road trip. One featuring a host of the carmaker’s newest and brightest models, of course, but really starring some amazing scenery.
Auto123 was on hand for the start of it all at Cape Spear in Newfoundland, the easternmost point of North America. We’re also on board for current segments taking the loose convoy through Ontario and across the prairies. We’ll have more on those soon.
Kanreki: Cycling through the zodiac
The thing about 60 is this: In Japan, it’s more than just a birthday with a zero on it. Reaching that age means a person has cycled through the Chinese zodiac five times and is back on their birth sign. Toyota Canada is a dragon, by the way.
Explained Stephen Beatty, Corporate Secretary at Toyota Canada, to the gathered group of bleary-eyed auto journalists gathered on an early morning last week in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Kanreki “represents a ‘rebirth’ – an opportunity to reflect on one’s life, take stock of the present, and prepare for the future.”
In terms of vehicles, Toyota provided our group with a little bit of past, but mostly of present and future. We had use of the 2024 Land Cruiser, Corolla Hybrid and GR86, as well as the 2025 Crown Signia. Our segment would take us from Cape Spear across the interior of Newfoundland and then down into Nova Scotia, via a ferry, and then the gorgeous Cabot Trail, with Halifax our endpoint. Here’s a visual rundown of our memorable journey.
A ’79 Cressida!
Before leaving St. John’s for points westward, we were able to take a short drive in a well-preserved 1979 Toyota Cressida, courtesy the good people at Toyota Plaza. No tape deck (we had no tapes to put in it anyways), and the brakes required pumping to gain strength, but otherwise it displayed all the luxury the model offered customers at the time!
Do you know the way to Deer Lake?
Soon enough it was time to get down to business, and we set off in a brand-new (pre-production!) 2025 Toyota Crown Signia with Gander on our minds, and beyond that Deer Lake.
See: 2025 Toyota Crown Signia First Drive: A Wagon!? Yes
Officially the new Crown Signia, one of the models marking the return to the Crown name to the North American Toyota fleet, is an SUV/crossover, but we’re just going to call it what it is, which is a wagon. A hybrid-powertrain wagon.
Land Cruising
Day two started with a sprint from Deer Lake south to Port aux Basques, where the ferry was going to leave on time for Sydney, Nova Scotia, with or without us. Couldn’t be late. This time we were in the new 2024 Land Cruiser, which will never be mistaken for a wagon. But it does provide wonderful visibility with its boxy cabin and a comfortable ride.
See: 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Drive: A Great Comeback... But Success Is Not a Foregone Conclusion
See: 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser: Here Is Pricing for Canada
One element we watched for on this journey through two Atlantic provinces was the level of electrification around us. Namely, how many EVs were we encountering on the road, and what kind of charging infrastructure was there? The answers? Not many, and not much. Here was a forlorn-looking charging station located at the halfway point between Deer Lake and Port aux Basques. It was very nearly the only such station we saw outside of St. John’s.
Into the mystic
We were greeted on our arrival at Port aux Basques' ferry dock by a huge fogbank, specially ordered by the good folks at Toyota to add some mist-ic magic to the day.
Once on board, we discovered the ferry had no WiFi. A bittersweet realization since it meant we would be catching up on rest instead of work!
Day Three: the Cabot Trail awaits
The first assembly plant opened by a Japanese automaker in Canada was at Point Edward in Sydney, on Cape Breton Island. Today it’s an unassuming field, devoid of even a plaque to mark the spot. But it was where the first Toyota Corollas for North America were assembled, starting in 1969. Here is one of the cars we drove on our segment, a 2024 Corolla Hybrid, paying its respects.
See: 2024 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Review: Win Win
Respects paid, we had a special treat awaiting us as set off from Sydney: a Toyota GR86 for the first part of the famed Cabot Trail drive, which would take us up to picturesque Neils Harbour.
Toyota's little GR86 comes with a manual gearbox, of course, which makes it particularly well-suited to delivering fun on the winding roads and amid the beautiful vistas of the Cabot Trail. The time flew by faster than the weather changes we hit, which ranged from sun to fog to strong downpours and back within the space of two hours.
The money shot
Back at the wheel of the comfy, high-riding Land Cruiser, we made our way across the Cabot Trail until we came to what is certainly its most photographed spot. We couldn't not stop.
Along the way across the "top" of the Trail we had noted the sudden explosion of French-language town and street names, this as we entered the Acadian part of Cape Breton.
Too soon, it was time to make a beeline in the even more comfy Crown Signia to Halifax, the endpoint of our segment of Toyota's 60th Anniversary cross-Canada road trip.
Auto123 is on board for current legs of the cross-Canada journey as well, as the convoy makes its way across massive Ontario headed for Winnipeg. Stay tuned for more reports!
