Australia is full of RSL Clubs, complexes consisting of restaurants, bars and slot machines (“the pokies”). These clubs are owned and run by the Returned and Services League, and were initially formed in the 1950s to provide a meeting place and an entertainment venue for returned servicemen. RSL Clubs are often a great place to buy a cheap meal, and the buffet at my local Kedron-Wavell RSL makes for a dangerously good companion to my poor impulse control. A walk around one of these clubs reveals their clientele skews towards the elderly, patrons having established a weekly ritual of going down to the RSL for a meal, a pint of beer and a play on the pokies. This Corolla I spotted in the parking lot likely belongs to one of those elderly patrons.
These were the last of the rear-wheel-drive Corollas sold in Australia. Frankly, I find them utterly, utterly dull. They are just another example of the stodgy, conservative RWD Japanese cars that were such a fixture of the Australian market in the 1980s. At least Toyota didn’t keep it around well past its sell-by date, replacing it with the modern, front-wheel-drive E80 for 1985. The same can’t be said for larger, locally-assembled Japanese cars like the Toyota Corona, Nissan Bluebird and Mitsubishi Sigma which all stuck around until 1987. But these Japanese sedans and wagons were all simple, reliable and conservatively styled, and the Australian buying public lapped them up.
Despite my feelings on this particular generation of Corolla, I’m simply in awe of how mint this example is. It even has our old-style license plates, complete with a vintage Sci-Fleet Toyota dealer frame. The dashboard has survived the ravages of the sun, thanks to a tacky dash mat. It looks like this Corolla has just been sitting in a garage for thirty years! Its owner may be a vet, but this car is a veteran too. The difference is, this particular vet didn’t see any conflict.
I rented that gen Corolla for a job interview in Silicon Valley, & was impressed at how well-built & solid that car felt. Stodgy it may have been, but owning an Escort at the time, I had buyer’s remorse afterwards. I think Toyota was at the top of their game during that period.
My twin cousins both got Celicas, & I was likewise impressed with the quality. So what if enthusiasts sneered at these?
Amen, Neil. And I’ll bet that Vet has laughed his way to the bank over the past 30 years. I like what this car says about the owner/driver. “Throw away” cars are only throw aways if they’re treated as such.
In the U.S. we got this generation Corolla with quad circular headlights and then dual rectangular headlights. With the quads I always thought these looked a bit like a BMW 3 series. It didn’t “hurt” the comparison that this Corolla and the 320 both had RWD AND 1.8 liter engines.
Every now and then one of these pops up on Craigslist, but they are never quite as nice as this one, and they usually have very high mileages.
I agree Toyota was at the top of their game at this point in time. But having driven my sister’s Celica from this time period, the cars were dull then (but strangely attractive), whereas now I find them to be too dull in comparison to ANY other brand.
If Toyotas were cookies, they would be OREOs. If you are 5 years old, an OREO is good enough. If you are an adult, at the very least a Hyundai is a better looking car.
Quad round lights – 1980 model
Square lights in chrome bezels, narrow side markers – 1981 model
Square lights without bezels, longer (angled) side markers, entire grille/head/sidelight area surrounded by thin chrome strip – 1982/3 models.
All USDM 1980-82 Corollas had a 1.8L T-series engine and a 1.8 badge on the trunk lid or hatch. ’83s had a 1.6L A-series and no engine callouts.
This car’s facelift is, I think, unique to Australia in sedan form although several other markets got E70 wagons alongside E80 sedans and hatchbacks since there was no E80 wagon, uniquely for that one generation. The Tercel wagon replaced the Corolla wagon in the US for those years.
Most Japanese automakers held over the wagons of their last RWD models alongside a wagonless first FWD generation, for some reason. Subaru and Honda being the obvious exceptions.
Useful spotter’s guide for the E70! I was thinking when I read this how the nose shape was not one we got in the US market. It’s not a bad look, but somehow seems a little less interesting than the sealed-beam looks we got, if a little more modern.
Did the quad round nose come on all of the E70 models? I only ever recall seeing it on 2 and 4 door sedans, and perhaps the wagon. Not on the coupe, the liftback, or the hatchback.
Quad rounds were only ONE year, 1980… On wagon and sedan models(2 and 4 door models). These models went to single square headlights in 1981.
The sport hatchback, lift back, and 1981 introduced hardtop notchback were all SR-5 models… And ALWAYS came with single square headlights from 1980 intro to 1983 finale.
Like, I mentioned earlier. 😉
First time, I heard anyone think a Hyundai was good looking.
Other than the Genesis coupe, every Hyundai EVER produced has never been attractive or interesting.
As a Geezer , I find the apt description of simple , reliable and conservative to be both accurate and high praise indeed .
No wonder it’s well cared for and still road worthy .
-Nate
I owned this cars twin with illegal in Tassie 18T engine, paid the grand sum of $150 for it the motor was knackered so I bought a 71 Corolla for $100 and harvested the power train and transplanted it, This frankencar replaced the Mazda 323 as my work car untill we moved towns to where my job was located and I went back to using my EH Holden to go to work, Horrid little cars those Corollas noisy poor handling and gutless the RWD 323 from 82 it replaced was a far nicer car.
My girlfriend knows less than nothing about cars. She’s endured more than her share of impromptu stops with broken down vehicles along the freeways of SoCal. Since buying a Corolla from Enterprise Rent A Car in 1996, she will not even look at any other car. Whatever else they may or may not be, Corollas provide solid and reliable transportation. For a whole lot of people, that is all they want.
Ditto with my wife. If there’s one thing many female drivers fear above all else, it’s having a random highway breakdown, hoping assistance won’t be from a potential rapist, & then hoping not to get fleeced by unscrupulous mechanics who prey on women. This seems beyond the comprehension of many male car enthusiasts for whom performance is everything.
I don’t know what that has to do with being female. I’m 100% male, and I like to get in my car knowing full well that I will make it to my destination.
I’ve been more than satisfied in that regard by my 1g Scion xB.
Now, if I could only move up a class to a Corolla hatchback. Too bad they don’t sell one in the USA…
Until next month, when they should be arriving at Scion dealers as the iM. Can’t fool me – I know a Corolla hatchback when I see one.
I’ll be first in line the day the ADM stickers come off.
Logically, my discussing one gender’s motives didn’t exclude the possibility that the opposite gender has similar concerns. I completely agree, many men also want no-fuss basic transportation. For my part, I like pleasant performance so long as it’s also reliable. It’s silly how enthusiasts buy cars with far more capability than can be used legally on the street.
I like the 1st-gen xB, a very good alternative to the Corolla.
Ah yes, the Toyota Auris (hatchback and wagon). Is this sold as a Corolla these days, somewhere ?
I really don’t know.
At least in Australia and New Zealand, the Auris Hatch/iM is sold as a Corolla Hatchback.
Right. Recently the Auris got a brand new 1.2 liter turbo engine here, it replaces the naturally aspirated 1.6 liter engine. It’s also available with the same hybrid-powertrain as in the Prius.
Other engine options are a 1.3 liter gasoline engine, a 1.4 liter Toyota diesel and a 1.6 liter BMW diesel.
Interesting to learn about RSL clubs–I’d never heard of them before. Does seem like it would be good territory to find older, well maintained cars.
I actually think this Corolla is boring in the best possible way. This generation always struck me as almost elegant in its simplicity, and certainly was one of the cars that helped Toyota earn their bulletproof reputation. Also, as you point out, Toyota never keeps producing its volume cars past their “sell by” date, so while the company can be accused of being conservative, it is never antique or out-of-touch. That’s my criticism of the GM A-body posted about today–that car was kept for an embarrassingly long time. It seemed conservative and dull when new, but was just horrible, cheap and old when it finally ended production 14 years later, no matter which roofline was on the dumpy thing.
I was recently in Sydney visiting relatives (my late father in law liked to go to the RSL to pull slots, or pokies), staying in Chatswood, which is now majority Asian. A lot of the older buildings are gone — and there are now some dull, characterless glass towers around. So it was a pleasant surprise to see the RSL club in a older, low rise building just a step away from the Chatswood station, almost out of character from the steel and glass buildings around it. I’m glad that they haven’t been squeezed out by real estate developers.
I’ve always theorized that the Corolla was aimed at women. As the wheelbase got longer on each successive Civic, Toyota steadfastly hung on to a chassis with LESS than 100 inches between the front and back wheels.
I took a look at a used Corolla in the late 90s, I think it was just under 10 years old. I could barely squeeze through the driver’s door into the front seat. It seemed to be sized for folks not much more than 5 feet tall.
It’s a shame, but with women making the majority of new car buying decisions (purchases?), car makers now rely heavily on pleasing customers who place safety and reliability WAAAAY above all else when buying a car (or truck/SUV/crossover). Me? Sure, I want a reliable car, but I don’t want to drive a deadly dull “appliance”.
Eggsalad,
The Matrix was a Corolla hatchback, the Scion im is only vaguely related to the Corolla (same engines and transmissions). Think of it as a NON-hybrid Lexus CT200h. Both are built off a highly forgettable sedan platform. Initial reviews for the im and ia are not all that hopeful if you enjoy driving a car.
Again, I enjoy driving a car that gets me where I’m going, without muss or fuss, for 10 trouble-free years.
We both enjoy driving, just in different ways 🙂
The last GOOD Corolla sedan in my opinion. Makes a great auto cross and track car. The last RWD Corolla sedan.
When the Corolla sedan went to FWD in 1984 in the US… It became an appliance and a boring chick car. Australia got this sloped nosed Corolla still in RWD configuration… I think from 83-86? Not sure. This featured car is probably a Corolla CL.
We got the TE70, everyone else got the KE70… 1980-82. 1983 was the AE70, same body and RWD chassis, just a suckier shit engine, from the previous hemi 3TC 1.8 motor from 80-82.
1980- quad round headlights, single square on the SR5s… From 1980-83.
1981- single square headlights across the Corolla lineup
1982/83- different grille, front corner lights, and taillights.
I own 2 of these E70 RWD Corollas… A 1981 and a 1983. I love em.
Yep K engines were stock in Aussie Corollas the T series in mine was an illegal install and it was stuffed but going back to a 3K removed any performance the car may have had and even with the overwidth wheels it was fitted with handling was marginal at best on wet roads, reliable yep it never missed a beat while I had it the rear wheel bearing likely needed replacing thats a weak point on these cars but the two guys who bought it off my front lawn were happy enough with it at least they never came back and complained.
What engine you got really depended on market. JDM cars had the 4K, 3A, and 2T-GE engines, with the 1.8-liter 13T a year or so after launch. I think European cars got the carbureted 2T and the older 3K for a while and then the 4K later; some markets I think also got the carbureted 2T-G, which was used in European racing events for a while. (The carbureted twin-cam was not offered on JDM E70s because it didn’t meet emissions standards.)
Weren’t these series of cars favored for the pasttime of “drifting” because of their RWD?
Yes — the stock cars came (in Japan, anyway) in sporty form with the twin-cam 2T-GEU engine and I imagine a fair number of cars with lesser engines eventually ended up with the 2T-GE, one of the later 4A-GE engines, or some other bigger engine for drifting or touge racing.
Yes, they were, silverkris…
My black 83, is mildly set up for drift, it has a 79 SR5 hemi 2TC, bored .40 over, GT-S ae86 Corolla LSD, lightened Fidanza flywheel, etc.
It’s a competent, fun alternative to an ae86 Corolla, or Nissan Silvia to get into drifting with… If you can find one. 😉
If it was light blue it would be the perfect drive for a white Leghorn on her way to lawn bowls!
Back in the early 1960s,the then CEO of General Motors Holden proudly said that you would never see a Japanese car in an RSL car park. Fast forward twenty years and they were full of them…
Who was the CEO of Holden, at that time?
Archie Bunker?
Sounds like a real jerk.
I think it was the CEO of Ford Australia. You need to realize that it was only 20 years after WW2 where a lot of Australians suffered terribly and died in Japanese POW camps, which is not a lot of time really.
Someone I know bought a car like this a year or two ago for around $500. Bargain.
Somehow these never seemed as dull as the generation that replaced them. Basic shape, but it got the details exactly right for a three-box…though I prefer the flat-fronted sealed beam look that the US-market cars had. In any case, what a pleasure to see one in such good condition. They’re still around, but uncommon anymore.
As an aside, and it may have been covered here already, but the E70 Corollas may have set some kind of record for the number of body styles available.
2-door sedan
4-door sedan
2-door coupe
2-door hatchback
2-door liftback (different from the hatchback–offered concurrently? not sure.)
5-door wagon
Six variants of the same car, with the same front sheetmetal, unique from the B-pillar back.
Grew up in Wavell Hts myself. I remember my father, a WW2 veteran, traded up from the 79 Holden powered auto Corona (a bit of a limo compared to my first car 74 Celica) to the last Aus Corona with the 2S and optional 5 speed. He only dealt with Sci-fleet Toyota as well. He wouldn’t go near RSLs. In fact, we just bought a Corolla Hatch (Auris) last year from them.
Dad got this model as a loaner one day, I think we all liked it more, with its “high-cam” ohv engine. There was a ohc 1.6 later. It was all you really needed in our opinion. Remember seeing the sexy XX model at the Ekka, my girlfriend at the time was dreaming about buying one and pointing out the features. Alas, they were big bucks for us youngsters.