or its inaugural appearance at the Chicago Auto Show in 1959, the Toyota Motor Corp. dressed its booth staff in traditional kimonos. The three Toyotas that filled the automaker's exhibit, however, were as plain as the staffers' attire was exotic. Touting its products' "value unattained in any other automobile," Toyota sold just 976 of its cars in the United States that year. It was an uninspiring promotion in a show where excess was in the driver's seat: Cadillac, for example, displayed a concept car with radar. But 49 years later in 2008, Toyota became the best-selling automotive brand in the U.S. market.