There's a turbocharged 1JZ-GTE inline-six stuffed in the engine bay, and it should be at full wail, my right foot planted to the firewall. It started going downhill circa 1992 when it switched to front-drive. This marked the end of the Corona taxi line. The car scrapes and rubs over every dip in the pavement. As with earlier Coronas, some models had a shifter mounted on the steering column. [45] In September a 1.8-litre LPG version (YT140) was added to the lineup. The facelift models received lenses with a single, more subtle, horizontal line intersecting across the centre of the tail lights and a chrome strip at the base. The Corona hatchback was eventually dropped in Australia in 1983 in favour of the larger Camry and the previous-generation saloon and estate were dropped in 1987 to be replaced by the Toyota Camry#V20, but in New Zealand, Toyota continued to offer the Corona, assembled locally at Toyota's plant in Thames, New Zealand. The taillights were also modified; while still rectangular, they were less busy in appearance. Chassis codes 100–105 were reserved for sedans, with 106–109 for vans, the 110–115 was for the hardtop coupé while 116–119 was for the wagon versions. The T130 series was manufactured with a wide range of engine and transmission combinations. The tail light design of this generation is reminiscent of the 1949 Ford sedan. A modified Corona was shown at the 1970 Tokyo Motor Show as the Electronics Car. The load carrying variants, Coronaline van and pickup (technically a coupé utility) were introduced in July and September 1960 with rigid axle semi-oval leaf spring rear suspension and 500 kg payload capacity[7], to fill commercial segment below the heavier capacity Toyota Stout. Given that it’s from 1981, I’d have assumed it was FWD drive but Wiki’s account seems to say that it could depend upon where and when it was sold. The five-door model proved much more popular in Europe, where, confusingly, it was marketed as the Carina II. 4dr sedan, 2dr hardtop, 4dr liftback coupé (standard only sedan) Toyota released a limited edition Olympic model in 1984, offering a full digital instrument cluster in either manual or automatic and in both sedan and wagon body variants. Or an asshole. Reddish-brown, 5-speed, RWD: in other words, true Jalop special. It's not fear that keeps me from sending that tach spinning. The Cadillac Eldorado & Seville, Buick Riviera, and Oldsmobile Toronado were longitudinal at the time. The advantage the Honda and Subaru had over the Corona was that both vehicles were front-wheel-drive, while the Corona was rear-wheel-drive. The T180 series Corona was introduced as the Toyota Corona EXiV which was shared with a Carina twin, called the Toyota Carina ED. The clutch is light, the throttle's stiff, and getting underway requires more than a little finesse. This could be the same reason 22Rs don’t do that well compared to Miatas and BMWs too. The Renault LeCar was too, as was the Saab 900. This is the last Corona, and the third-generation Caldina was built on the new T240 platform, which was also used in the Allion and Premio. Exports of this Corona proved popular in the US and Europe, with increased engine performance and durability improvements over previous versions. [36] The 2T and 16R were both replaced by the newer 12T-J engine in December 1979, reflecting newly tightened emissions standards for commercial vehicles in Japan. Engines were 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0-litre SOHC units. This chassis, as well as the twin-cam two-litre 3S-GELU engine with 160 PS (118 kW) (JIS) at 6400 rpm was used for the new Corona 2.0 GT and GT-R versions. Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. We ended up getting a ’77 Corolla 2dr sedan (bare bones 4spd) for a symbolic $1 from a coworker of my father’s a few years later once my mom started driving. He was also hooked on the Wangan Midnight anime series at the time. 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The set up also chews ECUs, burning up capacitors with a regularity. brakes: front disc, rear disc Some wagons had five doors but no rear seat. rigid rear axle with anti-roll bar The T130 series was available in a wide range of body styles across various markets including a four-door sedan, two-door hardtop coupe, four-door wagon and new five-door liftback, which featured a 40:60 split fold rear seat. Along with the new bodystyle, more engines were also added: a smaller 1.5-litre 3A-LU at the bottom, while the 1.8 was now available with fuel injection (1S-ELU) and 115 PS (85 kW). The T80 series Corona was introduced February 1970 and was a complete redesign, and was developed on a separate platform from the Toyota Corona Mark II, which became a larger, more comfortable and powerful car, where the Corona remained focused on fuel economy. The Carina E was built at Toyota's new factory at Burnaston, near Derby, England, United Kingdom, but the early cars and all GT-i models were built in Tsutsumi, Japan. In Japan, the 12R-U engine was designed to run on LPG for taxi usage, starting in October 1975. [49] There was also a two-litre diesel (2C-L) and the carburetted 1.8 was replaced by the central point injected 1S-iLU, with an extra five horsepower. An onramp just spat us out onto a wide and empty four lane. The Corona Coupé came with three engines; the SOHC 1.8-litre 1S-iLU and two twin-cams, the 1.6-litre 4A-GELU or the 2-litre 3S-GELU. Toyota's large family car lineup in Europe was quite confusing when looking over the past 25 years. I grab the wooden shift knob and make the long throw from fourth to fifth. amzn_assoc_linkid = "79275bf16596bca39e32170fc4d1e239"; OMG you’re into ancient cameras?! In North America, the Corona was replaced for the 1983 model year by the similarly sized but front-wheel-drive Camry sedan and five-door hatchback. [22] In January 1967 this also became available as a five-door van. In Southeast Asia, the 1.6 EX-Saloon with no emissions gear (4A-L) produces 79 PS (58 kW) at 5600 rpm. The Corona remained exclusive to Japanese dealerships Toyopet Store, and the Carina continued to be sold new only at Toyota Store locations in conjunction to the larger Toyota Crown. Were there any longitudinal-engined FWDs during this time? The face lift revised the hood and grille, and enlarged the tail lights. A performance oriented in-house competitor called the Toyota Carina, close in size to the Corona and based on the Toyota Celica platform, was introduced in 1970.