Years ago, a former manager had reintroduced an effective marketing phrase I had long forgotten from my ’80s childhood when she referred to the “Toyota jump”. Within the context of her and my conversation, I had put together and presented to her my proposal for a new business account I had wanted to insure (I’m an underwriter by day), but the account itself had a bit of “hair” on it, with an unfavorable loss history and a few other things about it that weren’t exactly ideal.
I did have a thought process behind wanting to write this account, but as much as I had tried to put “lipstick on a pig”, my manager (after pausing and shaking her head slowly) looked at me and said, “Joe, I hear what you’re saying… but this account just doesn’t make me want to do the ‘Toyota jump’. And here’s why…” I just looked at her, disappointed in sensing my proposal was about to be rejected, but also barely able to contain loud laughter for my memories of those ads.
The Toyota jump. Many of us of a certain age were used to seeing Toyota commercials on TV, where at the end of the advertisement, an enthusiastic owner would leap into the air (often visibly holding the keys), as an effusive choir would sing, “Oh, what a feeling…TOYYY-O-TA!” These commercials completely sold the young me on the idea that these little imports were something really special, and that owning one, no matter how unglamorous the car actually was (I mean, really – the yellow example above is a Tercel econobox; a great car though it was, a Celica-lite it was not), was going to eternally brighten your days to come. I can imagine, though, that to many former Pinto, Gremlin, Vega or even Chevette owners, a little front-wheel-drive Tercel might have been cause for leaping into the air in ecstasy.
When I was growing up, I had thought that all of Toyota’s model names were completely coined, as if random syllables had been selected and sequenced together by a computer. It wasn’t until later that I had learned that a “tercel”, for example, was actually a male hawk, or that “Celica” was derived from the Latin word “coelica” which means “heavenly” or “celestial”. “Camry” is an anglicized, phonetic spelling of “kamori”, which means “crown” in Japanese. I was pleased to eventually find out that there had been a method to Toyota’s nomenclature madness, though I do remember thinking at the time that Toyota’s use of what I thought were completely made-up names seemed high-tech in the coolest, most 1980s way, possible.
When I had spotted this example, a facelifted ’81 or ’82 model, it had been years since I had last seen a first-generation “Corolla” Tercel (as they were initially called), which was introduced here in the United States for 1980. This one would be powered by a 60-hp 1.5L four-cylinder engine. The length of its short, 98-inch wheelbase is somewhat masked by its wheels being pushed out to its far corners – which likely contributed to maximum interior space utilization.
I love the particular accessories on this one, which show that at least one of this car’s owners had prized it later in its life: a nice window tint out back, chrome moldings for the wheel arches, and a little lip spoiler on its foreshortened trunk. While its body wasn’t in perfect shape, it was mostly rust-free in a way I would think uncharacteristic of a Japanese import of this era in the Midwest. I felt that the amount of mild customization bestowed on this example merited a “customized” depiction, hence the tinted image above that I had fashioned from my original photograph.
I was once walking through my neighborhood back to my house across the street from where I photographed this car, when I stopped twenty feet in front of a hawk that was feasting on a rat on the sidewalk in front of me. According to a neighborhood stranger who also stood watching in fascination, she had witnessed the hawk swoop down and seize the rat. I imagine the well-built, reliable, efficient Toyota Tercel did something similar by clutching once-loyal, American-only buyers who had been left unimpressed by their experiences with domestic small cars.
Shot in Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Friday, March 4, 2011. First published 5/6/2019
Carolla Tercel reminds me of Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais in the 80’s. Throw a known name on an entirely different car and fool the American buyer.
Toyota did really apply that Corolla name to a lot of unrelated cars.
My memory might be hazy, but I believe this was the first FWD Toyota, or at least the first one exported to the US. Longitudinal engine, I think. I preferred the all-glass hatchback over the stubby trunk. Was it a nod to the all-glass hatch on the Volvo 1800ES? I’d like to think so.
Meanwhile, here at the bottom of the world where things turn slower, Toyota have been using the OH-What -A-Feeling-To-Drive leap for 42 years and counting.
It does have a rather daggy – read nice-nerdy/cutely-unfashionable – ring to it that clicks with the dryness of Aussie humour (the brief ad I’ve linked isn’t a bad example) and helped lift an outsider brand with fairly disconnected marketing into one entity that’s been No.1 for years now, though it’s always struck me as fundamentally misleading: the one thing a good ole Toyota ISN’T is a great drive. I speak as one with a beautifully-made Corolla sitting in my garage which is…a nice car. And to be fair to Toyota, they did drop the last two words (“..to Drive”) years ago.
https://youtu.be/ppTxnxJzDOA?si=fQtyLZAt9NPRie1m
Some actually were a good driving car but not of course available in OZ,Toyota sold cars with the same bland handling abilities as the locally made cars.
With the demise of the Yaris, hasn’t Toyota completely abandoned the small, cheap, basic transportation market in the US? Seems like the cheapest (and best buy) Toyota is now the Corolla LE sedan which, for a paltry extra $1500, nets you the terrific hybrid drivetrain.
The Corolla LE Hybrid sedan is very good practical choice for personal transportation, but I do miss small Toyotas like the Tercel and Yaris.
I still remember the old Toyota commercials – “You asked for it, – You got it, – Toyota!”
What I remember about these was how they still looked fresh a few years later if kept in good nick .
The average beaters on the other hand, looked awful .
-Nate
When I first saw the hatchback and notchback Tercels, I felt they appeared slightly dated. Styling for 1975 or ’76. Not 1980. The crisper-styled Corolla appearing more modern. Even if it strong resembled the Datsun 510, in notchback form.
The corner of St. Laurent Boulevard and Montreal Road, in Ottawa,during the Spring of 1980.
There’s a longtime rumor that Toyota management sat on the Tercel design for years before building it, which is why it launched as a Fiat 128-like sedan or that Volvo 1800ESque hatchback into a world where Golf clones were multiplying like rabbits.
Nice body positivity in that ad…
In the early ’80s, front wheel drive was considered superior to rear drive by many people, and those selling FWD cars made sure you knew about it in their advertising (if your car had RWD you simply didn’t mention the drivetrain configuration in your ads). Things have sure changed; FWD nowadays is deemed inappropriate for luxury or sporty cars, and also seems to be becoming the predominant setup for non-AWD EVs, even mainstream ones that have no pretense of high performance.
I remember driving and liking a first generation Tercel. It was a blue four door rented from Hertz at O’Hare in probably ’82. And it was a four speed manual! I thought that was great; Hertz probably got the car as part of a leased fleet of Corollas and nobody else but me wanted to rent that car. I had it for about a week and drove it around Illinois and southern Wisconsin before return to ORD. I enjoyed the car. It was small, cheap but just fine for one person and despite being slow I thought it was fun. And also Toyota tough, durable and reliable but I only had it a short time so that aspect didn’t really matter.
I owned one of those 1981 Tercels. It was an SR5 hatchback. Fun to drive, It never broke down and drove like new at 200,000 miles. Wish they still made them.
Australia got the Tercel 4wd wagon of the mid/late 80’s, a neighbour had one, drove it once and found it to be classic Toyota all neutral handling and reasonable acceleration, even though it was a totally different vehicle it was surprisingly similar the Hilux SR5 Xtracab I had at the time. The Tercel 4wd wagon was the only competition in Australia at the time for the Subaru wagon which was popular, especially with surfers. I had a couple of mates that had installed 3 inch lift kits onto their Subarus, handy devices for getting to those hard to reach surf breaks but a little choppy on the freeway. Great write up my guy.