Toyota’s original Prius had a steep uphill slope ahead of it when it first took to the roads in 1997. It wasn’t a particularly impressive car to look at and had some unusual proportions, but its job was to show that motoring could be eminently sensible in an increasingly skeptical age. This original Prius became a bit of a punchline for auto enthusiasts, with one US example needing around 13 seconds to get to 60 mph. But Toyota was serious about its hybrid approach and the story of the Prius since then has been quite remarkable.
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