Toyota at the 2013 Louisville Auto Show
An hour away to the east, Toyota also has a presence in the Bluegrass State, located in Georgetown. TMMK was founded in 1986, with production of the 1989 Camry beginning in May 1988. Since then, cars like the Avalon, RAV4 Hybrid, and Lexus ES350 have all left the factory for new homes in Kentucky, and beyond.
The new cars on the block in 2013 were the fourth-gen RAV4, introduced months earlier at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and the first-gen 86 (then known as the Scion FR-S). The former ditched the side-opening rear and attached spare tire for a liftgate, and cast aside the V6 for a series of inline-fours. The latter, a collaboration with Subaru, combined a flat-four engine with rear-drive fun, all for a low price.
Chrysler Group at the 2013 Louisville Car Show
A year before Fiat Chrysler Automobiles would be the company\’s new name, Chrysler Group brought an excellent selection of rides to Louisville.
One of them was the Dodge Dart. Instead of the rear-drive compact of the Sixties and Seventies, the new compact sedan sent it through the front wheels with the help of a transverse-mounted inline-four. One of those engines, the 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo-four, was also used in the Fiat 500 Abarth.