The Secret California Studio Behind Toyota's Iconic Car Designs

Back in '73, Toyota became the first Japanese automaker to plant a design flag on American soil, blending "California" and "Toyota" to create "Calty." Since then, this under-the-radar team has designed everything from the original Tacoma to the first-gen Prius.

Small Studio, Big Impact

Tucked away in Newport Beach, Calty's 85,000-square-foot facility houses everything needed to bring cars to life: clay modeling mills, VR studios, and auto-show-style turntables. But according to Kevin Hunter, Calty's president since 2007, the studio's real superpower is its independence.

"Sometimes when you have a small studio, you can operate outside of the corporate structure... You can get a pure statement," Hunter explains. "That was really part of the original Calty's role—to take it out of Toyota's corporate environment and let designers create unfettered ideas."

The Supra Reborn

Perhaps nothing shows off Calty's magic better than the FT-1 concept that eventually became the new Supra. The project started with a simple question: What would a modern Supra look like?

"We just thought something was missing from our lineup," Hunter says. "We were inspired by Akio Toyoda, who is a racer and car enthusiast."

Interestingly, the team designed the whole concept without knowing about the eventual BMW partnership. "When we developed FT-1, we had no package," Hunter admits. "The BMW platform didn't exist in our minds."

After just five months of development, the FT-1 debuted at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. The public went wild, and Toyota took notice. Five years later, the production Supra arrived.

Beyond Sports Cars

While the FT-1 remains Hunter's personal favorite after his 40-year career, most of Calty's work focuses on Toyota's bread-and-butter: trucks and SUVs. They've had a hand in designing every generation of the 4Runner since 1983, the Tacoma since 1995, and more recently, the reborn Land Cruiser.

With the latest Land Cruiser, Calty wanted to bring the iconic SUV back to its roots. "We had a great history with the Land Cruiser, and we sort of went away from it," Hunter explains. "We went to a more luxury product and lost focus on what Land Cruiser really represented—a pure, rugged statement."

From Paper to Pavement

Every vehicle at Calty begins as a simple sketch before transforming into 3D renderings—a process that's much harder than it sounds.

"The hardest part is getting from a sketch to a 3D property," Hunter says. "Sketches are 2D, and you can work a lot of magic in 2D. But putting that in 3D is another story."

While Calty enjoys creative freedom, Japan still has the final say. But things have improved over the past decade, with designers getting involved much earlier in the development process.

"Design has a good seat at the table now," Hunter says proudly. "And I think you notice our products are getting better."

Most car buyers would agree, especially with Toyota's recent design renaissance. Yet most will never know about the small team working behind those Newport Beach doors.

For Hunter, that's perfectly fine. "I hope consumers are just thinking about Toyota, saying, 'Oh, Toyota is designing more exciting products that I like.' I like to think we're one organization, one team all working together."