Sometimes interesting cars appear in unlikely places.  My wife snapped these pictures while chaperoning our daughter’s band trip in Salem, Massachusetts.  She knew the car was interesting, but wow – this is a car I haven’t seen in decades, and rust-prone New England isn’t where I’d imagine one to be driving down a city street.  A one-in-a-million encounter… in more ways than one.

Interestingly, Salem once played a bit part in Toyota’s history.  In 1972 – around the time our featured car was new – a Salem Toyota dealer sold a red Corolla wagon to a local couple.  What seemed like an ordinary transaction, though, was made more interesting because Toyota declared that car to be the company’s one millionth US sale.  The lucky couple were treated to a ceremony, as well as engraved watches and a free London vacation.  But Toyota itself was the real winner.  The company had made it big.  And the Corona Mark II was part of that success.

Read the rest of this entry »