I was perusing my files for Toyotas I’ve shot but not posted when I stumbled into this gem of a find from two years ago, shot on a cliff overlooking the Pacific near Big Sur. It’s my first and only gen1 Corolla, and it’s still in regular use, by the same owner since 1984. So what was I waiting for? Toyota Week!
Actually, I did show you one shot of it in my post about our trip on this stretch of Hwy 1. And I promised to write it up soon. How many times have I said that? I have hundreds of cars shot and still awaiting their day of fame on CC.
Given that we just had several vintage reviews of the first generation Corolla the other day, I won’t repeat a lot of the details. The Corolla was a big step for Toyota both in Japan and the US, to expand the brand’s reach into the huge market for low-cost but quite functional transportation. And in the US, the Corolla’s task was to take on the VW Beetle, which id did with gusto.
The Corolla’s success was explosive. In only its second year on the US market, it jumped right to the #2 position among import cars, behind the Beetle. And within a few more years, it leapfrogged right over it.
There aren’t many of these left anywhere, and the most common explanation is rust. Well, that’s certainly part of it, and this Corolla, which has lived near the salt air of the Pacific all its life, is showing signs of that.
But I have another theory: let’s face it, the great majority of the old American cars that we find in nice original shape were “grandma cars”, driven gently by older folks, and eventually stored in a garage until they passed on. Or even longer. Except for the valuable wrecks that folks will pay big bucks to restore, most of the marginal ones fell by the wayside a long time ago, or are sitting somewhere rotting away.
Why does that include so few old Japanese cars? Because almost invariably the buyers of them in the 60s and 70s and even into the 80s were young, or young-ish. They bought them specifically because they wanted reliable transportation for their commutes, and the cars racked up miles fast and furiously.
Toyotas made their reputation in California as freeway commuter cars; who doesn’t want the most reliable car possible when you have an hour or more commute every day? There weren’t a whole lot of old folks buying Toyotas back then, to pamper and keep safely in the garage for 30 years. Toyotas were run into the ground, one way or another. But I’m sure 20 years from now there’ll be plenty of pristine Camrys to be inherited from grandma.
There was obviously a driver sitting in this Corolla wagon, enjoying the view. So I went up and introduced myself and explained my interest. I remember her name—Gwen. And that she bought it in 1984. And that she was clearly living out of the Corolla—she was having a meal at the time. The passenger side seat was gone to make room for a slender bed down the length of the Corolla. And something about living in someone’s back yard? And being on the road a fair amount of time as a consequence, in her Corolla.
Well, if you’re going to be homeless, she picked a good spot and a pretty durable automotive companion.
We had a pleasant chat, and enjoyed the spectacular vistas, and then parted company. I hope she finds a permanent abode before her Corolla dissolves, although at this rate, that might yet be a while.
Toyota week is fun but we could really use Corolla week, Camry week, Corona week, etc.
OK, but only if we follow it with Newport week, New Yorker week, Windsor week . . . 🙂
also Model T week, Model A week, etc., etc., etc.
Vega Week! (c:
98 week, followed by Starfire week
Don’t need no stinkin’ 88 ot F-85 weeks.
And don’t even think about Alero week!
I want a Fairmont Week!!! 🙂
Nice survivor wagon there, the Mazda RX-7/626 wheels look good on it as well. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wagon of this vintage before even if the sedans and coupes were somewhat common.
You have hit on a big point. Almost nobody over 30 was buying Toyotas in the early years. Only the young are (as a whole) willing to take a chance on the new. The rest of us tend to rely on reputation and experience.
This phenomenon explains not only why there are so few early Toyotas left, but why the Crown model failed to launch. The Crown was a car that did not appeal to the only demographic that would have been open to considering it.
I think that most older people were satisfied with the domestic makes until the 1973 oil embargo. In the 60’s I know there were imports here, but I was not in the market for a car till the end of the 60’s, so I know very little about what there was.
The oil embargo was a shock to everyone. Here people got concerned that rationing would be imposed, so many looked for cars that had minimum fuel consumption. Japanese cars were some of the best, and owners were then quite happy with the quality too. This was the beginning of the end for the domestics.
This was one of the minor themes in the TV program “That 70s Show.” The father, Red, a WWII veteran, replaced the family’s Olds Vista Cruiser with a Toyota Corolla!
Red: “Yeah, it’s mine. I tell you the last time I was that close to a Japanese machine, it was shooting at me.”
One issue I had with That 70’s Show was that they were supposedly right next to Kenosha, but NOBODY had an AMC!
The neighbor Bob had a Pacer, and Fez had a Gremlin.
http://www.carlustblog.com/2015/06/the-cars-from-that-70s-show.html
The World War 2 generation was in their 40’s when this car was new and just on principle many of them would never drive anything Japanese or German. The younger generations didn’t suffer the effects of the war.
even here, on the supposedly liberal east coast, there was a stigma associated with buying foreign cars. my mother would never buy german because of the holocaust and my grandmother didn’t like the japanese “because of the way they treated their prisoners during the war.” there was a gm plant in linden, nj and a sense that buying foreign took jobs away from americans.
after the embargo, that all changed especially for young people. it became “unamerican” to drive a “gas guzzler.” once people experienced a japanese car, there was no chance of them going back to a pinto or vega.
Nice wheels
I know/knew of two surviving wagons and my ex Gfs two door sedan will still be about somewhere but those are all in Tasmania locally nothing this old in Toyota is still on the road rust and WOF fails took em out.
I dimly recall Mom buying a new Toyota Wagon in 1969 , I’d left home by then ,I can’t remember it much , she liked it for few years.
-Nate
As I’ve noted in a couple other Toyota articles, I’ve never seen a 1st-gen Corolla on the road, that I can recall. The 1975-79 generation (E30/E50) on the other hand were absolutely everywhere when I was a kid. They all seemed to disappear on the same day sometime in the late 90’s and have been a rare sight since.
For a car that someone is living out of, this one seems to have avoided the giant piles of stuff often seen, and the fact that it has a proper bed is a plus. Hopefully her living situation has improved since these photos were taken, but there are clearly worse places to roam than one that features vistas like this!
I have recently acquired this KE16 Corolla this year. It is currently still running and driving, but the body is in need of attention! I am hoping to keep it alive for as long as possible, so i’m on the hunt for parts! Parts that will work are from a KE10 2 door corolla 1968 to 1970.5. Parts that i’m looking for are fenders, hood, doors, passenger side quarter window. A donor car would be fine as well! Any help would be really appreciated! Here is the current state of the wagon.
I didn’t notice your comment when you posted it. Great that you’re trying to save it. All the best with it.
The 69 Corolla wagon was my first car. Bought it from my neighbor for $600 in 1974, when it already had 92K miles on it. It died in 1981. Had a lot of good times in that little tin bucket.