We had no idea actor James Doohan pitched for Toyota. Apparently, when he wasn't keeping the starship Enterprise up and running as chief engineer Scotty, he was helping the Japanese brand sell the 1968 Corona in the United States. How cool is that?
We learned this thanks to YouTube, where the classic commercial was published only recently. There are no introductions or subtitles to confirm it's Doohan, but that's absolutely him. His voice is unmistakable, even without the thick Scottish accent he used when playing Scotty. And anyone who's seen the original Star Trek series will recognize that clean-shaven face.
Sadly, there are no Trek references in the minute-long video. The title places the clip in 1968, midway through the four-year (three-season) run of the original television show. We know Star Trek as a massive franchise today, but the series was actually a ratings flop when it first aired. Even if Toyota had a license to reference the show, its waning popularity could've done more harm than good for the company. In the late 1960s, Toyota was still working to establish itself in the US, and the Corona wasn't exactly a warp-speed machine.
As a result, we get a rare glimpse of Doohan playing it straight from the hip. There's no pomp and circumstance in the delivery, no fast-paced cutscenes, no music. Just some facts about the Corona—bucket seats, nylon carpeting, and a fully automatic transmission among them. It's certainly a very different commercial from a very different era.
Toyota would become the world's largest automaker, but Doohan's acting career didn't progress much further. He returned as Scotty when Star Trek made the jump to the big screen, a role that made him famous many times over. He died in 2005 at the age of 85, still beloved by fans around the world.
And now, we'll forever look at the old Toyota Corona a little differently.
