What a terrific shot by Roshake; small, medium and large. None of these three were ever sold in the US, but the prior generation of Starlet was. That was still a RWD little hatch; this generation (P70) that replaced it in 1984 is FWD, looking very European here, not unlike a little Peugeot or Mini Metro or such.
As to its companions, that’s a VW Caddy and a Renault Master van.
The Starlet is a perfect embodiment of that mid-80s period when angular lines were used to create some of the greatest little hatchbacks of the time. No muss; no fuss.
Seems a bit curious that Toyota decided not to bring this generation over, but then its affiliate, Daihatsu was trying to break into the US at the time and its Charade was pretty much the same size.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1981 Toyota Starlet –The Last Of The Littlest RWD Toyotas
Curbside Classic: 1989 Daihatsu Charade – Treat And Retreat
The Caddy is smaller than the “small commercial vans” we got in the US. I still would have liked either. I just read that sometime this week, the order books close permanently for the Transit Connect. I’m sad it’s being discontinued. When I get to it, I’ll look for a used one.
Next gen Ford Transit Connect (the cargo van) = current gen VW Caddy.
The latest Ford Tourneo Connect (with windows all around and rear seats) is already based on said Caddy.
This gen Starlet looks like a slightly shrunk Corolla FX as sold in the US. Regardless of the Charade situation, I think that at the time the Starlet and FX were close enough in size for the US market. Of course now, with so many Corolla variants being sold here, similarity among models seems to be less of an issue; they are differentiated in different ways.
A Starlet is a lot smaller than a FX Corolla, they really are tiny cars, the next gen saw a lot of crosspollination between those badges with Corolla11 and Windy, ist and others.
Maybe one day more NA contractors will realize that it’s smarter to buy a full size van than the biggest HD pickup available that pulls a 6 wheeler trailer. It’s also deplorable that the offer in NA for small van is pitiful. The NV200 and the chevy city express are gone, they might have had a longer life with the manual transmission offered in europe & free tires for life . The Transit Connect is made in Turquey & the Ram ProMaster City is a Fix-it Again Tony variety .The reliability of these last two almost makes me wish the arrival of the Hyundai Staria ( without a Gdi… )…maybe one day.
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