Find Reviews by Make:
The Junkyard Find ’79 Corona we saw earlier was a pretty nice car, but it was a regular sedan with an old-fashioned trunk. Just as Chevrolet buyers could buy a Nova with a hatchback in 1979, Toyota shoppers had the option of getting a Corona Liftback. Let’s tune into the old days of analog television and watch how Toyota USA’s marketers pitched this fine automobile.
So, we have a mean-looking tough old guy with a combover— probably just got back from advising the Proceso on interrogation techniques in Buenos Aires, from the look of him— driving a ’79 Corona Liftback around a suburban American neighborhood. Through clenched teeth, he commands the viewer to get with the program and buy this extremely sensible car. Few viewers did.
Now, let’s watch an ad for a same-year Detroit (or, rather, Franco-Detroit) hatchback. You get facts and figures, twisty roads, interesting camera angles, and a voiceover that doesn’t sound like Dick Cheney as president of your homeowners’ association, berating you over the dandelions on your lawn.
3 Comments on “1979: You Asked For It, You Got… a Toyota Corona Liftback Sedan?...”
Read all comments
1979 was a great year for Toyota (and Datsun and Honda and Mazda…)
There was a Corona wagon as well. These were the last of the RWD, engine in the front on a north / south axis, subcompacts from Toyota prior to the Camry.
For the traditionalist, the Cressida was there to soldier on much longer.
When I was born, my parents drove a Falcon, but I have no memories of it. Then they bought a brand new ’78 Corona liftback, much like this one. That’s the first car I could recognise. My parents were happy with it, the only problem was rust here in the north. They kept it 7 years.
I have good memories of this one. I haven’t seen one other than on a picture in a loooooong time.