Posted on 03/08/2020 2:41:49 PM PDT by libh8er
Today’s Rare Ride hails from the first two decades of Toyota’s North American tenure. The Corona line was midsize, luxurious, and the pinnacle of the company’s offerings on this continent.
Come along and experience Corona.
The Corona was an all-new car for Toyota in 1957. It was created as successor to the Toyopet Master, which was a taxi and fleet vehicle sold alongside the similar Crown sedan. Once Toyota saw the market for the more luxurious Crown, it cancelled the Toyopet Master and replaced it with the less expensive Corona to create some distance from its flagship. The Corona then took the mantle as a smaller and less luxurious sedan.
A short first generation from 1957 to 1960 (T10), was succeeded by a second generation that existed from 1960 to 1964 (T20/30). Today’s Corona is part of the third generation, which spanned the long seven years from 1964 through 1970. Introduced just prior to the start of the ’64 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Toyota’s new model trailed the introduction of a new Nissan Bluebird (its main competition) by a full year. So the new car could be a bit larger and more expensive than prior versions, Toyota introduced a new car to serve the lower end of the market starting in 1966: the Corolla.
The Corona was available in a shocking six body styles. Customers chose from two-doors in pickup and hardtop variation, a three-door van, four-door sedan, and a five-door wagon and hatchback. All were front-engine and rear-drive, utilizing inline-four engines of 1.2- to 1.9-liters of displacement. Transmissions had two, three, or four speeds, with the two-speed as the automatic offering. Keen to show the longevity of its new mainstream car, Toyota tested the Corona on a Japanese expressway for 100,000 miles. Able to sustain very high speeds of 87 miles per hour, it reached 60 in just over 15 seconds.
In 1968 a new larger Corona debuted, the Mark II. An increase in size and equipment brought the model upmarket, and the new car even shared some features with the pinnacle Crown. The Mark II in this guise was built through 1972, and was the next-largest vehicle to Crown. It was still sold at Toyopet Stores, however, which meant it wasn’t as illustrious as vehicles sold at Toyota Store locations. The introduction of the Mark II signified that the end was near for the Corona as a luxury model.
Is that the kind of car that “Columbo” drove?
“luxurious”???
Now that’s a word I would have never associated with any of the early Toyota automobiles.
No, that was a Peugeot 403
They don’t make interesting, fun-looking cars anymore.
I wanted a Karmann Ghia, and they stopped making them right when I began to drive.
I remember the first time I ever heard of Toyota. Can’t recall the year but it was in “Motor Trend”.
They sounded like they were shocked by the quality for a low price. It had that odd look.
Funny how this has evolved.
When I want to the new car show in Dec, the Ford, GM, and Chrysler stuff was from Canada, Mexico, Korea, and China and the US built were BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, etc.
I remember my brother’s brand new ‘72 Toyota Celica. Pretty quick little sports car.
My first car: Karmann-Ghia.
36 stompin’ horsepower.
Actually, a great little car.
The early model of the Toyota Virus line.
They were barely a blip in 1968 in North America. The growth years were ahead of them.
Drove one of those in Okinawa; speed limit on the island was 25mph so lack of power not an issue.
I had a 77 celica, drove it out west with my girlfriend at 140k miles, an 81 celica, and an 87 Supra, put 150k miles on them all. Shame they went the way of the Camry, but there is a real Supra/bmw again
Thank you both. I loved that car! And that show
They were barely a blip in 1968 in North America. The growth years were ahead of them.
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As a kid-type, I remember when Honda only sold motorcycles.
I suppose this morphed into the Corolla. I bought a 2014 Corolla last year, and it’s just the nicest little car in the world to drive. Gets great mileage, too. When the Japs aren’t sneak attacking you at Pearl Harbor they’re making some pretty damned good cars.
I wanted a Kelly Green Cabriolet...:-(
I had 2 brand new Coronas; a ‘70 & a ‘72. They had some excellent features, but unfortunately good engines weren’t 2 of them. Upholstery was not the strong point, either.
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