Farmboy and Industrialist by Albert Wessels
Farmboy and Industrialist (Autobiography of the Founder of Toyota South Africa)
The Autobiography of the Free State Farm Boy Who Founded Toyota South Africa
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Farmboy and Industrialist
- Author: Albert Wessels
- Publisher: Perskor, Johannesburg and Cape Town
- Publication Date: 1987
- ISBN-10: 0628031416
- Edition Details: First Edition, Second Impression, 1988.
- Binding: Publisher's maroon cloth hardcover with a blind-stamped rearing horse emblem to the front board, supplied with dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo hardcover, approximately 220 x 140 mm. With a black and white portrait photograph facing the title page.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The maroon cloth boards are clean, with a blind-stamped rearing horse emblem to the front. The spine is straight and the corners are sharp as far as can be seen. The top and fore-edges show light toning.
- Interior: The pages seen are clean and legible with no markings. The binding feels tight, and the page edges are slightly cream-toned. No inscriptions, bookplates or stamps.
- The Dust Jacket: Present. The jacket shows rubbing and scuffing to the back panel, some whitish wear marks to the lower back and a few small marks to the lower left of the front panel. The spine is intact. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Farmboy and Industrialist is the autobiography of Albert Wessels, published by Perskor in 1987. Wessels tells the story of his boyhood on a Free State farm and his rise into business, including trips abroad to source textiles.
The book is best known for its account of how Wessels founded Toyota's South African operations. In 1961 he obtained a permit to import ten Toyopet Stout pickup trucks from Japan, the step from which Toyota South Africa traces its roots. The volume opens with a foreword by Dr Willem van Heerden.
It has been cited as a primary source on the industrial links between Japan and South Africa, which makes it of interest to readers of South African business history as well as collectors of Afrikaner-era biography and memoir.
Author Profile: Albert Wessels
Albert Wessels (1908-1991) was a South African industrialist and the founder of Toyota South Africa. He worked in banking and clothing before entering the motor industry.
He married the South African poet Elisabeth Eybers in 1937; the couple divorced in 1961. He was succeeded as chief executive of Toyota South Africa by his son Bert in 1988.
Albert Wessels autobiography · Farmboy and Industrialist Perskor · Toyota South Africa founder book · South African business biography · Albert Wessels first edition · Afrikaner industrialist memoir
