Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kunihiko Masaki

Naoto Kitagawa

Ichiro Suzuki

Hiroyuki Watanabe

Toshio Kawamura

Kosaku Yamada

A steering assembly supporting device of a motor vehicle comprising a horizontally extending base portion and a vertically extending leg portion. The base portion extends in parallel to the cowl inner panel at a position which is arranged in the rear of and remote from the cowl inner panel. The opposite ends of the base portion are fixed onto the corresponding cowl side panels and the lower end of the leg portion is fixed onto the floor. The base portion is fixed onto the cowl inner panel via a bracket. The steering tube of the steering assembly is supported by the base portion.

Steering assembly supporting device of a motor vehicle

A steering assembly supporting device of a motor vehicle comprising a horizontally extending base portion and a vertically extending leg portion. The base portion extends in parallel to the cowl inner panel at a position which is arranged in the rear of and remote from the cowl inner panel. The outer end of the base portion is fixed onto the cowl side panel and the lower end of the leg portion is fixed onto the floor. The intermediate portion of the base portion is fixed onto the cowl inner panel via a bracket. The steering tube of the steering assembly is supported by the intermediate portion of the base portion.

In a hard top automobile body having a roof, and a rear quarter pillar, and a lower rear side portion, a reinforcing pillar, substantially separate from the rear quarter pillar. The reinforcing pillar is provided at a position shifted toward the front of the automobile from the rear quarter pillar, with its upper and lower ends attached to the side of the roof and the lower rear side portion, respectively. In this manner it divides the rear quarter opening into two, while allowing the rear quarter pillar to be reduced to a thinner structure so as to provide better rear side view for the driver without sacrificing the strength and rigidity of the automobile body.

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Toyota, Japan

Kunihiko Masaki