It seems that the MT Car of the Year and European Car of the Year could not have been more different; to wit, the Mustang II and W116 Merc S-Class: one a sporty, more Broughamy Pinto, and the other a big, solid sedan for captains of industry. What about Mr. Norman Normal of Tulsa? Well, how about a Toyota Corona?
image: lov2xlr8.no
Of course, the 3rd-gen model had already made serious inroads on the West Coast, but at the time was seldom considered by Elmer and Mildred of Sioux Falls: “A Toyota? What will the neighbors think? I can just hear Bob Roberts making jokes if we bought one: ‘Hey El! Didja get yer car with your new stereo set? Har har har!’ Then he’d drive off, laughing over Pat Boone on the 8-track, in his Fury III. No sir, we’re getting another Impala!”
image: lov2xlr8.no
Despite a few styling quirks, the 4th-gen Corona introduced in 1970 was much more in line with the other compacts in the U.S. market. But Toyota was learning what would and would not fly in the American market, and the company was getting pretty fast on its feet.
Personally speaking, I like the looks of the 3rd- and 4th-gen Coronas better, but to many Americans in the ’60s and the early ’70s, they were a little too “out there” and a little too small for folks used to Torinos and Chevelles. But one gas crisis later, a lot of new car buyers were taking a second look.
The Corona was in its fifth generation with the ’74 model which, whether intentionally or not, was much more familiar–and acceptable–looking to Middle America–and there was even a pillarless hardtop! Zackman, did you know this? The 5th-gen was also a bit bigger, gaining almost 3″ in its wheelbase and 6.5″ in overall length, although that might have been due in part to the federally-mandated battering rams.
The 5th-gen sedan was very inoffensive and not immediately identifiable as a Japanese car, what with its squared-off styling, forgettable taillights and, starting with the ’77 model, even a formal grille. I’m sure many new Coronas sported whitewalls, too. All the more to blend in.
Although a bit smaller than the domestic compacts, from a distance it could have passed for a Volare or Ventura, especially when equipped with a dealer-installed vinyl roof (ugh!). Naturally, with its modest 1,968cc SOHC I4, which produced 97 hp at 5500 rpm, it also got better fuel economy than both the Granada’s 300 200 or 250 CID six and even Ma Mopar’s vaunted Slant Six.
Inside, things were not too scary for Thorvald and Greta Samuelsson of Minnetonka. Look–a bench seat and column-shifted automatic! If you didn’t want to go quite that far down that road, buckets and your choice of a four- or five-speed floor-mounted stick were also available.
In addition, the 1974 Corona–whether unwittingly or not–rather effectively previewed a new wave of domestic compacts that included the three-box 1975 Granada/Monarch, Nova and friends, rust-tastic Aspen/Volare twins, and even the 1978 Fairmont and Zephyr.
True, the Big Three offerings were a bit bigger and a bit cushier, but they were also thirstier and, depending on what day of the week they were built, had assembly quality that could be anything from acceptable to shoddy.
Yes, Toyota was learning. There was even an über-Corona of sorts (though it shared few common parts), the Broughamy Cressida, which replaced the oh-so-JDM 1972-76 Corona Mark II (CC here). The woody wagon version was every bit as ’70s-faux-lux as a Plymouth Volare Premier wagon.
The only problem? Despite being well-built and reliable, Toyota still hadn’t quite licked the rust problem. But it was the gen-5 Corona that began the Americanization of Toyota’s lineup that led to today’s successful Camry, Avalon and Prius. And for that reason, it is my 1974 CCOTY.
The pictures of the green ’78 Corona and ’76 Cressida wagon are by Paul. The sedan’s CC can be found here.
Norman Normal reference.
I’ve seen the sedan/wagon with the 4 headlight front end, but I’ve never seen the coupe with the inset grille headlights.
Our first family Toyota was a 1970 Corona, bought used in 1973 as a grocery getter for my mom. It had buckets and a floor shifter for the two speed Toyoglide. I remember being impressed how good the materials in the car were. It was no slower than anything else in the economy market, for example a six cylinder Nova with Powerglide and got much better fuel economy. It was a good grocery getter until my brother turned 16 in 1974 and proceeded to run the bag off of it. Within a year, he had burnt out the motor. He came back from a road trip with the engine knocking like crazy. Dad told not to drive the car but he did anyway. He promptly rear-ended another car and wrecked it. Exit Toyota.
Dad thought the Corona as such a good car he bought a 1974 Corolla, my first car.
You really have to give it to Toyota. Having spent a few years in Japan myself, you really can’t live in a different culture. Japanese tastes run from incredibly sophisticated to the incredibly silly and strange. Their first efforts tended toward the latter but they had a steep learning curve. By 1986 they were making specific North American models and they sold like hotcakes. They still do, too.
Now, has any company in the world so successfully penetrated any other market? In a word “no,” and that’s why what Toyota and Honda did is both brilliant and amazing. Despite all the roadblocks politicians placed on them, instead of whining and running off to court, they kept their eye on products that people wanted to buy.
The rest is history.
As you note, Toyota/Honda studied, learned and succeeded to the point of domination. Point taken.
But there’s another side of the coin…
US automakers flipping the bird to the consumer throughout much of the 70’s-80’s. (The 90’s too for GM, sorry Carmine. Read Peter DeLorenzo’s “The United States of Toyota” Few writing today are as intimate with the inner workings of GM over a period of 50 years, and as qualified to comment as “Autoextremist” DeLorenzo)
No matter what metaphor you put upon it, the Detroit automakers in their greed and hubris often acted like they could foist any crap upon the public and they’d buy it and come back for another!
The experience of a family friend with a brand-new ’86 Buick FWD Regal was all too typical.
The car was a lemon in capital letters and the dealer was of little help. After a year of one mechanical failure after another, she turned to Honda and never looked back. The ’87 Civic that replaced the Buick, that got over 200k with only routine maintenance was the exclamation mark on that story. The only American vehicle she’s remotely considered the last 25 years was a Tahoe for her job. She bought a CR-V instead and is currently on her third.
Yes there was a steep learning curve adapting to new safety and emissions regs from Washington, but look at the times Detroit got it right… enough so you had to wonder why they weren’t making more of an effort to build them all right.
Examine the quality of a Ford Model A. (as noted elsewhere on this site) Look up the contemporary road tests of the ’49-’52 Chevrolet, or the ’65 Cadillac that scored above Rolls-Royce. Then read Aaron Severson’s historical accounts in Ate Up With Motor about the ’60 Corvair or ’71 Vega.
And for contrast, look at Japanese efforts to penetrate the full-size pickup/SUV market. They’ve carved out a respectable niche but full-size trucks/SUVs are the singular area where Detroit has been pretty consistent about putting its best foot forward. You can say what you want about the buying habits and inclinations of the typical full-size pickup/SUV buyer…this CC correctly tells of a time when those buying habits and inclinations were far more universal…which is the way I remember it growing up in the 60s and 70s.
It was a perfect storm.
Japan Inc – Toyota and Honda in particular – were doing virtually EVERYTHING right just as GM/Ford/Chrysler were believing no wrong would be egregious enough to drive consumers overseas.
And the unions are not without fault…why exactly a car built Wednesday at 3:38PM would be superior to one built Monday at 7:16AM can be laid at the feet of the UAW/CAW, its rank and file egged on by the likes of Keynesian economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who is said to have stated that the good times of the 50s-60s would last forever, so ask the company for anything and everything you want, they owe it to you!
Half-a-dozen years ago Toyota/Honda got caught up in their own hubris. I think everyone here can reference at least one story, whether it’s overworked Odyssey transmissions or Camry engines that turned oil to sludge, and was there anything to the Toyota SUA incidents? A faulty DBW unit or just people sticking the floormats in the wrong spot? Like with many things in life, the truth probably lies inbetween.
At least Detroit seems to have learned the best lessons from Japan, Inc and are building some well-engineered and well-screwed together vehicles. It’s just a shame that a good couple generations of vehicle buyers are so turned off by GM/Ford/ChryCo’s past mistakes that they wouldn’t give a domestic vehicle the time of day no matter what, because in my opinion it didn’t have to be that way.
At least most of the import manufacturers have set up shop on these shores and provide a lot of well-paying manufacturing jobs, while many North American-branded vehicles are in reality built in whole, if not in part, beyond our borders.
But that’s another discussion – and debate – for another day.
Excellent post, Chas, but we all know the real reason that the “Big 3” couldn’t compete was poison in our water supply. There couldn’t be any other reason.
“…its rank and file egged on by the likes of Keynesian economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who is said to have stated that the good times of the 50s-60s would last forever, so ask the company for anything and everything you want, they owe it to you!”
Maximizing one’s returns to the limits of one’s bargaining power is what homo economicus does. Not sure why Galbraith is being singled out as some sort of commie Gordon Gekko here.
Galbraith was right; without the good paying jobs that unions gave, America’s huge middle class that epitomised the 1950’s and 1960’s could never have existed. The GI Bill have gave higher education of millions of returning GI’s, who in turn made America’s post-war miracle.
There was little or no competition from anywhere until the mid 1960’s when Europe was starting to pick up, but that was hardly noticed.
I have never understood the argument that paying people poorly is somehow bad for profits. Any employees I have ever had were paid the high end of the going rate because finding and retaining employees is vital to the success of any enterprise to which I have engaged. Good pay reduces your management and supervision costs and assures good productivity. If your worker isn’t holding up his/her end, it is easier to justify firing a more highly paid worker. Finally, one bad employee can cost you a whole lot more than an extra $1000 a month in pay and benefits.
You want a Corona hardtop?
I really dig the 4 door hardtop Celica equivalents of the FWD series on. Did you know that Exiv is “short” for extra impressive ( and that The Carina ED was similar, ED being short for “extra dressy” ) ?
“Exciting Dressy” to be precise. It’s a shame that Japanese companies always keep the best models to themselves, but all the great looking cars from the four-door hardtop craze of the 80s-90s are just now getting old enough to import to the US. They’re getting pretty cheap too, it looks like you could probably import one in good condition with low miles for around $5-10,000, and that seems like a very neat daily driver alternative to a late model used car (as long as you can find a good source for parts and repairs). My favorites are the Nissan Cedric Cima, Nissan Laurel Medalist, and Mazda Persona (which is notable as the only four-door hardtop ever built that has convertible-style shoulder belts that aren’t bolted to the ceiling and don’t block the view out the side windows). All three were introduced in 1988, which means in a few years their entire model runs will be 25 years old and any of them will be fair game to import. I know what my next car might be…
Everyone who watches any television at all knows what ED stands for.
A minor nit – the Six in the Granada was either a 200 or a 250, and not the 300 that was found only in the trucks. I believe that the 200 was dropped after 1976, along with the 351 V8.
These were starting to be seen in the upper midwest, but not by anyone that my family knew. Big American iron was still king. I later got to know a kid in college who had one of these Coronas (or even possibly one of the older ones). I did a minor repair for him, and was amazed at how well laid out and well made everything seemed to be. I recall it as having a very “American feel” for such a small car.
My aunt purchased one of these new in 1976 with the birth of her first child (she was my father’s way baby sister) and it quickly rusted, even in the non-snowy climate of SE North Carolina. We eventually nicknamed the car “the blue bomber” because of the rust and the fact that the exhaust system was in a perpetual state of falling apart that it made weird noises all of the time. Like many younger people of the day, she purchased it because it was more economical than domestic wagons available at the time and smaller for parking. She ended up hating the car because without power steering, the 4 speed, and the beforementioned rust issues, it was just painful to drive.
Say what you may about domestic car rust issues, the foreign makes rusted as bad or even more so. Most of the Japanese makes came onto people’s radars in the 1970s due to energy concerns, but they really were not able to beat the domestics in sales until the early 90s when the cars stopped looking like tin cans and become much more comfortable inside and out.
Growing up I enjoyed watching the arc of Japanese sedan styling. The first generations looked basic and had a slight British flavor. Then came two generations of Tom K. Brougham-inspired models, and finally a more Euro, generic look that started with the 80s Maximas and Cressidas and, with a few exceptions, continues today. The new Accord looks like a 3-series.
The first generation of Broughams such as the 74 Corona, 610 and RX4 looked wonderful. I liked the Corona as a 2-door or 4-door but thought the 610 and RX4 only looked nice as 2-door hardtops. The RX4 Coupe was the best of the bunch.
The 74 Corona was a huge hit – dark brown 4-doors were everywhere in So. Cal. They looked fresh, expensive and right-sized. The Japanese went too far with the second generation of this look. I thought the Cressida, like the one above, and the 78 810 were ghastly.
Excellent article Tom!
Oh wait is this a car of the year nomination article? If so it has to be the Mustang II for 74!
Say what you will about comparisons to the early generations, the baby Mustang concept was brilliant and the execution pretty darn good too. I think the styling has aged well and the downsize was one of the most successful in history.
April 1st is still a way’s off…………………………….
I will stick by you on this one. Regardless of what the majority says, the Mustang II seems to have made a much larger impact than these things did.
Agreed. My Brother had a 75 Mustang II 4 banger. Bought used in 1980. Went to 180,000 miles with very few problems and no rust when he sold it. Did not care much for the looks of it but was a great car and kind of fun to drive.
I wouldn’t mind having a Mustang II Ghia in silver with the cranberry crushed velour and landau top, just to drive the other Mustang guys nuts at cruise-ins 🙂
As much as folks love to hate the II, it was the right car at the right time, and may have even saved the Mustang from extinction.
A Pinto Brougham, but it works!
As long as it had the 302, I could do with one of these too. Though, mine would have to be brown with the tan vinyl roof and tan velour. It just isn’t a proper 1970s car if its not brown.
Great cars those Coronas took the world by storm one minor glitch in OZ was the fitting of lemon Holden Starfire engines to increase Australian content those cars were crap genuine Toyota Coronas go forever if you can keep headgaskets on them and thats more of a maintenance issue than a design fault.
Oh, yes the “Backfire” four! It was a Holden Red motor with two cylinders removed, shared with the notoriously crap Sunbird. Did NZ get those crudbuckets too, Bryce?
Yeah Sunbirds came here the starfire 4 arrived in the UC which was really a UK Vauxhall and of course it continued on in the 4 banger Commodores.
My Grandfather had a Gen4 Corona. Still waiting for a CC on one of those.
My favorite part was the little trumpets on the horn button, and the audible ticking of the clock..
It’s probably still ticking, too.
What’s interesting about the 1974 Corona is how the front, with one of the dual headlights placed in the grille, apes either (depending on your choice) the 1962 full-size Plymouth or 1969 AMC Rebel. Neither of those cars was very popular among customers or influential among U.S. manufacturers.
Currently for sale on ebay, the grandaddy of all broughamy Toyotas:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MS55L-Deluxe-/281061898056?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=281061898056&_rdc=1&forcev4exp=true#ht_481wt_1090
That looks almost German. Kinda like a Japanese interpretation of an Opel Diplomat (which, I realize, is a sort of German interpretation of an American midsized sedan, so that completes the circle).
Believe it or not, these had separate body & frames.
I lived in an upscale Jewish suburb in Montreal for a few years when I was a kid. One of the neighbours was a distinguished Jewish lawyer and he had a Crown that looked exactly like this one. I recall him in his homburg hat and heavy overcoat chugging along in the Crown.
He lived alone and I remember he always had candies in his pocket to give the local children, good ones too.
Much later I learned that he was a Holocaust survivor; his wife and children had not made it. Such a nice man and very loved in the community.
This one intrigues me.
My dad’s younger sister and her husband had the twin to the Corona at the very top – same color of brown, even. This was the first Japanese car ever in my family. I remember it being a nimble car, and fun when riding in the back with the seat folded down. However, my aunt and uncle were often kidded for driving a car that was named after beer. Sort of like a Ford Busch.
This was their first of two forays into the depths of Asian autodom. Their second was a Nissan Altima about 10 years ago that was traded for a Buick Lucerne.
CCOTY? I shouldn’t really comment as I didn’t give any alternatives.
I never paid much attention to the Corona, but did think that first generation Cressida looked like something from a Godzilla movie. The next generation Cressida was fairly attractive, having lost that Japanese “home market” appearance.
The Toyota Camry actually owes its existence to the Toyota Corona. The Toyota Avalon and most Lexus Sedans larger than the IS owes their existence to the Cressida or known as the Mark II in other locales.
I went to the regional auto show tonight and saw a new Avalon. The first thing I thought was “new Cressida.”
I think Cressida is a better name than Avalon.
This year the Houston Auto Show had free test drives, and the Avalon was the only Japanese car I tried (along with a Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Dart, Fiat 500, Buick Verano, and Chevy Volt). As much as I hate to admit it, of all the cars I tried the Toyota was the closest to my 1984 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight in terms of driving manners. Soft power steering, relaxed gas and brake pedals, smooth acceleration, relatively soft suspension (though the razor thin tires certainly didn’t help), and it was by far the quietest car I’ve ever driven (although the Toyota display just had a small test track rather than the open road test drive you got with the other makes, so that may have been misleading). Still, it wasn’t exciting enough to make me want one, especially when I could get a week’s worth of infinitely-cooler daily-driver-condition classics for the $35,000 the Avalon goes for.
We just looked at a 2013 Avalon Hybrid with all the fruit. Amazing. I consider it a well-executed Yank Tank, with seemingly better rear legroom than any Crown Vic. I suspect this is aimed at those longtime Toyota buyers who started out with Corollas or Coronas, but want Baroque Barge comfort in their retirement.
There must be people at car companies whose job is to think up more gadgets to offer the customer who wants everything.
Interesting, how Toyota and the Japanese cars bring out the extremes – you either love them dearly, or hate the pavement they ride on.
I was an early-teen in the Midwest about this time; and Japanese cars had a significant penetration. Whether an owner liked them or not – aside from rust issues, which hadn’t come to the forefront yet – seemed to depend on how he or she viewed maintenance.
A lot of people liked big, and even not-so-big, Detroit iron at least partly because you could almost weld the hood shut and drive it until the points burned out. Change them in 15 minutes, and another 10,000 miles. Oil change? Waste of money. Antifreeze? Who needs it?
Big Detroit iron could exist under such use. Not happily; but keep on limping on. NOT an imported car. Oil changes were skipped IN PERIL OF FORFEIT. That temperature gauge wasn’t just decoration. And the tachometer redline was law.
I knew two owners of Japanese cars of this era…a Dodge Colt and a Toyota Corolla. Both owned by young women a few years older than I…friends of the family. First cars for both. Both were excited career girls, proud to be on their own; proud to be able to buy such cute, different cars with manual transmissions. Both liked the direct-feel of the non-assisted steering.
And both were fanatic about car care…not just the waxing, but everything the book said to do. For the three years or so I knew of their cars (I left home and lost track) they were thrilled with the Asian Experience.
These were so common in California, and now both gone and mostly forgotten. And while I knew many people with Datsun (Nissan) 510’s, 610’s and 710’s I don’t remember anyone I knew who owned a Corona. Back then, Datsun people and Toyota people were very different.
Toyota & Datsun pickups, & tricked-up 510 coupés, were all the rage while I was in H.S. in the late ’70s in CA. The latter was the only good-looking Japanese car I can remember from the period, lacking the strange lines & trim so common otherwise. I’ve never been a Datsun fan, but I since learned that the ’70s were mechanically sound enough to be good for racing, hence the 510 fad.
Hopped up 510’s were also the rage in Canuckistan at the time. Problem was Datsun stuff rusted with amazing abandon and by 1985, they were all gone. Imagine that, fifteen years and all gone. I can look out my window and see several two decade old cars. Cars are way better than they used to be.
Let me join the chorus of nominating the Mustang II. It is far closer to the orginal intent of the Mustang than anyone wants to admit. The first Mustang was built off the compact/cheapskate Falcon platform and the Mustang II was built off the Pinto platform.
It just occured to me that we are at a rare point in Mustang history where the car is on a unique platform. The Fox platform was shared with almost too many vehicles to keep count.
Point is taken; but the original Mustang had a far different “package.” The best way to describe it would be “minimalist” and “crisp.” It looked light; and it was, relatively so. Still, in spite of the new proportions, the cabin was relatively high up, with (relatively) comfortable seating.
The Coke-bottle bloat, which worked on the Torino, didn’t go so well on small cars. The Pinto pulled it off, but no one would ever think of it as “light” or “taut.” Even in the econobox world, it was a fashion statement; and that was a fashion which lasted as long as the Leisure Suit.
The Pinto was a throwaway; but the Mustang…it had both higher price and a spectacular legacy behind it. Making it out of the Pinto platform may not have been out of character, but it sure created a different character.
A lot of big Mustang guys (the ones that run the V8s, etc) do not want to admit to the Mustang II and alot of them just ignore the pre 1968 models. As has been said, the Mustang started out life as a “sporty” but smaller somewhat more economical car that was sensible and practical for a lot of people especially younger people and women. Which is basically what the Mustang II turned out to be. The Mustang II was popular among women (gee even one of the Charlie’s Angels drove one), but when it developed into the muscle car that it became with the Camaro it became more male oriented and the other models were lambasted. Some of the 70s Mustang IIs were kitschy, like the Ghia models and the ones that were heavily laden with graphics and decorations. Who can forget the King Cobra models with the black and the gold snake. They had 302s in them so they weren’t complete dogs, but they were not all that fast. But then again, in the 1970s, not alot was.
Sales bore this out as the early Mustangs, the Mustang IIs, and some in the 1980s were more mass-market products where as the Mustangs of the late 60s, early 70s, and today are more of a niche product.
Some of the reasons that the Mustang II gets a bad rap are: 1) General bad raps towards most 70s cars; 2) Alot of people, especially men, when they think Mustang they think muscle car and the Mustang II is not that; 3) The original couple few years of the Mustang were classic and there was nothing to compare them to so there we have it.
Also, it has been pointed out that without the Mustang II, there might not be Mustangs today. Look what happened to the Cougar, which was taken in a different direction after ’73.
Did all the Cressida Country Squires come in that shade of brown? There is one just like that here in Savannah, in slightly better condition. It is the owner’s Sunday driver — which I say with some level of confidence, because the ONLY time I see it is on Sundays parked near the Lutheran Church downtown. It is very tempting to stop and leave a note under the wiper asking if he/she would sell.
The Corona Standard/Options ad is a reminder of one big reason the Japanese companies made big inroads in the 70s: they didn’t nickle and dime you on the options. For the base price you got a well-equipped car with the only extras being an automatic, A/C and sound system. IIRC in that era domestic compacts didn’t even have a electric rear window defroster available as an option.
That idea worked for import buyers but domestic buyers did not cotton to that when tried. When the first J cars came out, their content was high and their price high, comporable to an import. But after receiving many complaints, by the next year the cars went bare bones and the price adjusted accordingly. Americans are just used to starting at a low price point and working up. Part of the reason the imports did that was to justify the exchange rate price differential. Also, American makes by an large made it a habit of offering huge range of options, both to boost profits and both because domestic buyers appreciated the individuality of the car buying experience. Something that is still evident today and at car shows.
That reminds me of how the “Bathtub” Rambler was packaged in the ’50s. They knew that Americans wouldn’t buy a small car unless it had some standard goodies, to psychologically compensate for its size.
Detroit’s “Can We Build One for You” business model wasn’t necessarily practical with import makes. I recall from personal experience that in Honda’s earlier days, they had little variation in models stocked; most options were dealer-installed, like A/C, radios, right-hand mirrors, roof-racks, etc.