Last time I found and wrote up on of these oddball mini “hardtops” was a rather tired white Corolla Ceres. And I didn’t really have any words of praise for it. By contrast, there was a previous piece on this Toyota penned by Brendan Saur that was rather more positive. Well, finding this very well-preserved early model Sprinter Marino in a very fetching shade of red has caused me to mollify my position.
Sometimes, all it takes is finding a particular model of car in the right kind of light and in better nick than the previous time. This happened to me several times – most recently with the “Pagoda” Benz. Happening upon this Sprinter Marino similarly made me re-assess my position about this curious and curvaceous JDM-only sub-breed of the Corolla E100.
There are a few minute differences in trim between the Corolla Ceres and the Sprinter Marino. One of those is the taillights: the Ceres’s are plain, whereas this Marino’s stripy items give the rear end a little more character. This went away with the late ’94 facelift, so it’s really lucky this particular car and I crossed paths.
The Ceres / Marino twins were launched in the spring of 1992, just as the Japanese economy imploded. As such, they were planned during a time of plenty but actually had their career during a major downturn. One hears echoes of the grand 8- and 12-cyl. cars that appeared in 1930-32 on both sides of the Atlantic and flopped majestically, for the most part, leaving a trail of dead carmakers in their wake…
The Ceres / Marino isn’t quite that egregious a mistiming, to be honest. The cars, built by the exclusive Kanto Auto Works (makers of the Century, among other Toyota specials), were peddled throughout the ‘90s (until October 1998 for the Marino; the Ceres stocks took an extra 14 months (!) to be cleared), during which time sales went from bad to worse. But at least they were based off of the Corolla, i.e. Toyota’s perennial best-seller, even during hard times. Make that especially during hard times.
The Ceres and Marino combined only tallied 220,000 units. The 1991-95 Corolla E100 saloons, as seen above, clocked in at 677,000. That’s just the Corolla version’s domestic sales – the Sprinter saloons would have probably scored similar results. Even the van/wagon version of the E100 Corolla, which had an extremely long life (until 2002) did very well also, as it became the default Japanese family and business hauler.
When the next generation Corolla/Sprinter saloon took over in 1995, the Ceres/Marino merely received updated engine options, including the 165hp “black top” 1.6 litre 4AGE that was exclusive to the 1997-98 Marino, but did nothing to prevent the nameplate’s demise. Too little, too late, not to mention too expensive and too cramped.
Never mind, I was going to take a positive tack on this car. There’s that nice rotund rear end again. This blobby shape is sort of growing on me with time. Must have that looked at.
The real eye-catching feature here is that maroon paint job. Far too many JDM cars from that era were either white or gray – anything that deviates from the norm is a good thing. And this rather pointless (but interesting) “hardtop” definitely was a deviation from the Corolla bread-and-butter four-doors that came before, during and after it.
Related posts:
Automotive History: 1992-1998 Toyota Corolla Ceres/Sprinter Marino – The Sexiest And Most Limited-Availability Corolla, by Brendan Saur
CC Capsule: 1993 Toyota Corolla Ceres (AE101) – Jelly Bean Ricer, by T87
I used to see these a lot but like most early 90s Japanese used imports they are getting quite rare here, biannual inspections takes them out mostly its cheaper and easier to scrap them and buy something else.
It looks like it came out of the same designer’s portfolio who did the Sera, but like that one could easily have a Mazda or even Nissan badge, the interior especially (along with much of the exterior) reminds me of Nissan’s “organic” era.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with a Corolla, but this does look significantly more upscale at likely the same or very similar unit build cost.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with a Corolla, but this does look significantly more upscale at likely the same or very similar unit build cost.”
Exactly. I see this and wonder why they don’t all look like this.
The Geo/Prizm version kind of splits the difference. Rounder and more pleasing, but not the hardtop.
That rear end has just the right combination of curvaceousness and angularity, a blend which eluded Nissan at that period. A very attractive, if impractical car, which looks totally unrelated to the E100s you show. It makes me want it to be unrelated to them! And a very interesting colour too.
If only there was a coupe version….
There was — the Sprinter Trueno.
Looks like Saran Wrap stretched across an auto body and the designer followed the lines. Not my cup of tea…
Mildly related: we had a regular customer at the shop i worked at a few years ago who brought all of their family vehicles to use for, well, everything. Their early-20s son drove a 2010 Corolla LE in the usual, boring shade of medium gray. He was a nice guy, but definitely a failure to launch situation who mistreated the ever loving heck out of his cars. He destroyed a succession of Focuses and Cavaliers (about one a year) for a few years, either through neglect or running into stuff. Eventually, they got him the 5 year old Corolla. Try as he might, and despite causing a ton of body damage and wrecking the interior (stains, dirt, smoking various things, stickers everywhere), it was still his and still mechanically fine after 5 years of utter abuse, last I saw it. He was doing 30k miles a year of who knows what, and it was lucky to get 2 oil changes in that time. Aside from occasional light bulbs and pinning loose body parts back on, it never really had issues, despite its pitiful life. The thing that made me think of it, it was built during a time when North American Corolla and Camry supplies were production-constrained, partially due to Cash for Clunkers, and Toyota sourced Camrys from the then-underutilized Subaru (former Subaru-Isuzu JV) in Indiana, and Corollas from various Japanese plants, one of those being Kanto. This kid was beating the crap out of a lowly, wheelcover-equipped Corolla that was produced alongside the Century and Lexus LS600hL and any number of other top-tier Toyota models. Always thought that was neat, and it certainly seemed to be classic Toyota reliable, well after Toyota had instituted cost savings throughout their lineup.