U.S. distributors gave Toyota a toehold in a mysterious new market

From left: Gulf States Toyota CEO Tom Friedkin; Toyota executives John McGovern, A.J. Duderstadt and Hal Bracken; and W.D. Kutach of the Texas prison system, who accepted a vehicle donated by Toyota.

By:

Kathy Jackson

October 29, 2007 05:00 AM

Former race car driver Carroll Shelby reckons he could be a billionaire today if he had taken Toyota up on its offer to distribute cars for the upstart company back in the 1960s.

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