Photos by Simón Varela.
I know what most of you are thinking, there’s no such thing as a ‘cool’ Corona. Particularly, when speaking of the somewhat frumpy third generation. But it all comes down to perspective. In nations without stylish Rivieras, Thunderbirds, or Monte Carlos, the hardtop coupe version of the Corona was a swanky and stylish statement. Look, even Falcons were eventually adopted by hipsters. So, why shouldn’t I think of a hardtop Corona as ‘cool’?
The owner of this one found in San Salvador certainly considers it so. He’s held on to it since new; a literal ‘car of a lifetime’ that belongs to a ‘Toyota family,’ and about which I have known for some time. Their collection includes two old Publica pickups, and this one Corona hardtop coupe. The vehicles stuff the house’s garage and are visible through heavy gates, but they’re impossible to shoot properly while locked.
Someday, I had hoped I would come across this one in the open.
I didn’t. Instead, one of my operatives (a good friend, actually), found it and captured it while talking to the owner who had just finished washing it. And considering the embellishments locals do with cars, this one has remained fairly intact throughout all these years.
That said, it’s got the usual bits of missing cosmetics replaced by dubious aftermarket products. But that’s forgivable; original trim is incredibly hard to find in this city once lost.
As noted at CC before, this generation of Corona marked the beginning of Toyota’s ascendance. While being accessible family cars, Toyota made an effort to offer an ‘upscale’ feel that customers sensed and gravitated to. In basic terms, shoppers felt they were getting a good deal when buying one. That the cars turned out to be reliable only cemented a loyalty that remained for years to come.
The 4-door sedans were the most common Coronas, with the hardtops being a bit more exotic. As the owner of this one mentioned, only 10 hardtop coupes a year came to El Salvador and they were thought of as rather exclusive. This one also happens to be a 1600 S, which carried Toyota’s 1.6L 9R engine. A mill that offered pretty good power for an economy car at the time. (In the US, the Corona coupe carried Toyota’s 1.9L engine, which suited American conditions better).
Indeed, in this early stage of Toyota’s international foray, some of their cars were considered reasonably lively. Not Alfa Romeo or Fiat-like, but if pushed, decent enough for the times. A pretty hot version of the hardtop coupe was available as well in Japan, known as the Toyota 1600GT. It carried a DOHC engine jointly developed with Yamaha and it’s a chapter already covered by Tatra87 some time ago.
Let’s now take a look at the interior of our 1600 S. There are obviously some homespun solutions in here, but overall not too shabby. Could have been a lot worse (believe me).
Am I being just provocative by calling this one ‘cool’? Would I stoop that low?
I remember seeing these Coronas fairly often during my childhood and thinking of them as frumpy and outdated. A feeling that remained unchanged for years. At some point, during my college days (hipster time!), I saw one in California and it suddenly struck me: “That car… is so uncool that… I want one!”
And a hardtop coupe would be just the kind of uncool that I think would be really cool to own.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1969 Toyota Corona – It All Started Here
Vintage R&T Test: 1967 Toyota Corona Coupe
Curbside Classic: 1968 Toyota 1600 GT-5 – Corona Con Tequila
I’ll sign on to agree that this is cool. I think it’s an attractive design, in a “cute” sort of way. My grandparents had a sedan of this generation when I was a very small child, followed by a ’71-ish replacement of the next generation. My grandfather, a WWII navy vet, was impressed with them, so I guess you could call him an early adopter, as Toyota hadn’t really caught on in a big way on the east coast at that time. Their Toyotas shared the garage with “The Big Car”, a ’69 Chrysler Newport, and before that an earlier Plymouth Fury that I don’t remember except for its green color. I thought the Coronas were “cool” even as a little kid, preferring to ride in them over “The Big Car”, probably because they felt more suited to my size. Oddly, they drifted away from Toyotas later on and a Plymouth Horizon became “The Little Car” by the end of the ’70’s. I didn’t find that one “cool” at all.
The reincarnation of the 1961 Rambler.
Being the weird kid, these more formal Japanese cars appealed to me in their time. Conservative with some upscale pretensions.
And, making a car a hardtop rectifies a lot of styling sins in my mind.
Quirky is as quirky does…..
As a kid when those Toyota’s were new I thought the same thing. They definitely aped that front end but the rest of the car has a sort of Italian look so I think they’re cool now.
A cook that I worked with at restaurant as a kid had a light green 2 door same year. Very impressive car for the time. He bought it used .This was later in the 70’s the car had at least 100k on the odometer. It showed no signs of wearing out. Everything was still screwed together. Very fun little 2 door coupe.
No need to persuade me. Definitely cool. And this example is clearly well-loved. Great pics from Sr. Varela, too. Sweet post.
My first non American car was a new 1969 Corona hardtop, in light blue. I opted for all the goodies – – automatic, air conditioning, etc. Two factors influenced my decision. I had moved to Chicago and my 63 Ford Galaxie 500XL convertible was a horror to navigate on congested city streets. Also, I had taken a job with Japan Air Lines and I felt driving a Japanese car might be a good career move. I loved that little car…too bad it succumbed to Chicago’s salty winter streets after four years! My next car, a Datsun B210, was taken directly to Ziebart right after I took delivery.
Drove a B210 in my high school driver’s education class. I loved it. Wished it was mine. I know that’s not where you intended the conversation to go, but in my opinion, you have good taste in cars.
My babyshit yellow B210 hatchback was an amazing car. I had absolutely no mechanical problems with it during the 5 years I had it. It rode like a coal cart, but was totally reliable. I finally traded it in for a 1981 200SX hatchback.
I too thought these frumpy looking when new but over time have learned to love the styling, it’s better on the coups than the sedans .
I used to run across a coup now and then, typically an old woman’s car in one of the pastel colors .
The extremely rare factory A/C used the entire glove box for the cold air vents .
Silver doesn’t do this car justice .
-Nate
It seems to me that there were a fair number of the coupes equipped with automatic transmission.
The two speed “Toyomatic” slush box was the world beating GM Powerglide made under license and shrink a bit .
Many (? most ?) Sedans had it as well, it was a very good transmission but had _one_ fault : the reverse band was too small/delicate and if like many Americans you engaged reverse whilst the car was still moving forward it tended to break leaving you with an easy to push back wards car .
The nifty seat back recliner/adjusters too were slightly too delicate and when lightly bumped in traffic the passenger would suddenly be lain flat .
I remember these as cute, peppy and fun to drive little cars that did very well with those who took care of them but those who didn’t had many interesting failures .
-Nate
I believe they went further in picking up the GM nomenclature and called it a “Toyoglide” if my Mom’s 69 Corolla was any indication.
Correct .
I have a little refrigerator magnet I made up with the foil “TOYOGLIDE” sticker I salvaged off a ’67 .
-Nate
The four-door sedans were all over the place when I was growing up in Vancouver – but I never saw a coupe, so I suspect they weren’t available on the Canadian market
And yes, I’d agree that it’s cool
Not even remotely as cool as my 1970 Corona Mark II i drove in high school circa ’82-83
My ’70 Mark II was a 2 door hardtop. Girls loved it because the bucket seats reclined. 🙂
There were lots of shoivel nose Coronas in southern Tassie when I lived there sedans most but a couple of wagons and utes were on the road as daily drivers and several locations had sares cars scattered about.
The hardtop coupe version was an attractive car.
When these were new I recall a TV commercial where a handsome young preppie man was driving in one with beautiful young woman wearing a fur coat in the front passenger seat. At some point he told her the price of the car and she was not impressed, exclaiming something along the lines of “Why my something (broach, coat, necklace) cost more than that!” The man replied with, “So did my yacht.” as they drive up alongside the impressive-looking yacht.
Alas, I can’t find an online video clip of the commercial to post a link to, but it was cool.
I could be provoked to say that the only possible way in which a Corona of this era might be cool would be if it was to be dropped from a great height onto concrete, such is the prejudice I hold against them for their bad seats, bad steering, bad brakes, bad handling, moany motor and Aunty Ethel looks. These were much in evidence in my younger years, and I heartily wished they were not.
However, time passes, and with it the depth of my grievance – it is, after all, just a car – and if one must face the possibility that one’s perceptions and tastes (and sense of forgiveness) may have been altered by that passing, it is an outside chance that it is not entirely unreasonable to call the coupe version cool. Ish. Possibly.
After all, there are living people who now restore Datsun B210s, a new car of such enduringly offensive awfulness in every available department that I had resolved when perhaps 10 years old that I would personally avenge their blight by ensuring their entire elimination when I grew up. (I didn’t – grow up, that is, as I still find them very insulting things, but I digress).
In truth, the 2-door made such a remarkable difference in appearance to these, and though rare in these parts, I thought them rather nice. (I add the caveat that I have never, ever been cool, so this does not add to your argument that they now might be; “The guy in THOSE clothes thinks it’s cool?”).
As an aside, I glanced back at Prof T87’s post on the twin-cam exciting version. A fellow had added a line or two some time afterwards at the end of comments, from this very city, as it happens, saying he had and restored the hot version – and apparently, it was barely better to drive than the crapulating standard one, so it seems even in its finest form, the driving experience remains distinctly not cool.
I remember an influx of Japanese cars in 1970s Vancouver! The Toyota Corolla was noted to get 500,000 miles or more on their engines! Yes, MILES, not KMs. There were many seen on the roads of Vancouver 20-50 years later! I still see a lot of newer Toyotas today and I like to talk to the owners to get their feedback about the reliability of them. Most of that feedback is positive…