My first car was a beige ’69 Corona sedan, and so I’m always happy to see a junkyard Corona. In this series prior to today, we’ve seen this ’66 sedan, this ’68 sedan, this ’70 sedan, this ’70 coupe, plus this Corona ad from the February 1969 issue of Playboy. Now I’ve found a Corona Mark II at a Denver yard.
Featuring overhead-cam 8R power, the Corona Mark II coupe had a respectable 108 horses under the hood.
Bucket seats, four-on-the-floor, $2,280 MSRP— not a bad deal, especially considering that the ’71 Chevrolet Vega coupe listed at a mere 84 bucks less. The ’71 AMC Gremlin was just $1,899, though, and a (surprisingly comfortable but way less well-appointed than the Corona) Simca 1204 could be had for $1,693.
These cars rusted with great eagerness, even in dry places like Colorado, and this one is no exception. Not worth restoring (in 2014), but still interesting.
The claim of 25 miles per gallon was more believable than most of the era.
Made such a long journey through time, only to be Cash-for-clunkered.
This would have made a sweet restomod. Not even scared of the rust.
So I have no idea why the engine was painted, but this was way too old to be cash for clunkered. The cutoff year was 1984 or 1985. Plus, it probably would have gotten too good of mileage to be eligible.
For lack of a better description, these old cars always looked so awfully Japanese to me. And that was a good thing. Quirky in the right ways. Sadly beige rules these days.
This is one of the cars that helped revolutionize the North American market. As a true survivor it deserves greater respect.
It may have been priced like the Simca (Yuck!), Gremlin and Vega but it provided the purchaser with a degree of dependability/reliability that these did not.
We learned that if you wanted an inexpensive car that you could count on there were choices beside the Beetle.
Just as Datsun taught the British working class that they could buy a car that actually ran when they needed it.
Datsun 210s also had a huge role in Japanning the American workforce.
Was the 210 the same as the 120Y in England?
Wiki says yes. Sunny = 120Y = 210.
The generation after those was FWD and sold in the States as the Sentra from ’82 on.
Good! Now I know something about this, because I learned on the 120Y on Top Gear, but don’t think I’ve ever seen a 210.
Quintessential college lot roach of the mid-late ’70s:
http://chrisstevenssite.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/datsun_b210_1_76.png
Man, they were Ev. Ry. Where.
That green was relatively rare where I was. Blue and yellow predominated.
I like it, it’s homey. And I like the wheels.
Neat little car , too bad the tin worm got it .
At least the ‘ cash for klunkers ‘ aspect shows us it was still running and registered when it was scrapped .
I am also pleased to see it has been cherry picked for good parts .
Me , I’da grabbed that driver’s side rear view mirror for one of my Oldies as it looks nice and appears to be in VGC .
-Nate
So the orange spray paint on the engine is junkyard code for “cashed for clunkered- no usable parts inside”?
The C4C program required the engines be destroyed — the spray paint is meant to deter people from trying to salvage anything from them.
They were supposed to pur in a mix of oil and glass beads then run the engine until it died or seized , no parts with the spray paint are allowed to be sold .
Much anguish was caused amongst the So. Cal. Hot Rodders as scads and scads of good big blocks were ruined then scrapped , you couldn’t even buy the cylinder heads or manifolds off them .
of course , Self – Service Junkyards remain full of 454’s and other big block V-8’s for $250 each fan to flywheel , no one wants them .
-Nate
C4C eligibility rules stated that cars more than 25 years old were not eligible, as were cars that had an average fuel economy of more than 18 MPG, so this Corona would not have been part of that program.
I can’t explain how you’re wrong, but I’ve seen either or both of those instances violated several times under the program.
Who on earth would buy a Simca over this? Even in 1971 that would have been a dubious choice. — cue the Simca lovers’ protests —
Me! And I do protest, :)!
Marcelo, that shows my ignorance… I didn’t know Simcas ever made it to Brazil. Although I know you’re a fan of the Euro brands!
Oh, they were here alright and beautiful cars they were! The industrial site is still in use, but now by VW as the Germans bought out Chrysler the first time they abandoned Brazil in the 70s under Iaccoca.
BTW, just to make clear, no suggestion or implication of ignorance was intended or made, :)!
Like all French cars of its time, the 1204 has a weirdly comfortable ride. Crap build quality, of course, but nice ride and cheap price might have been enough for some buyers.
A dear friend of mine once had what he now refers to as the “Dearly departed and unlamented Simca Collection”. Which consisted, IIRC of a trio of 1204s. He needed that many to make sure he had at least one running one, and they were really, really cheap! This was in Ohio, I believe.
I can just remember a friend’s Dad having one of these Toyotas when I was a kid. Bought in CA while he was in the navy, driven here to Maine, where it promptly dissolved in our annual salt-brine bath in a few short years and failed inspection.
Because you are my dad, and you have a history of buying cars that eventually would show up on “worst car ever” lists. Other cars he bought include an AMC Gremlin, a Renault Alliance, and a Dodge Aspen.
A man of fine, if unconventional, taste. I salute him!
In 1973 my father bought a ’71 Corolla, painted in this same pale yellow, to use as a tow car for a motor home. I had the privilege of driving it home, despite being on my learners permit. It was also the car I got to drive once I got my license. It was nothing special, simple 1600 cc engine with a four speed and a chassis with lots of built in understeer, but it was pleasant enough to drive, and much quicker than my sister’s Beetle.
I think we had one of these from around this time as a loaner at our shop when I was a kid, but I can’t remember and the internet is no help. What year did the Corona switch to a round speedometer with ridiculously elongated numerals (possibly more so than the ones on this example)?
First, I love the arrogant spokesman for the 2nd Gen Corona ad. Arrogant or not, what he was saying was spot-on, a poke in the eye of Pinto and Vega. And while we had to wait until model year 1971 for the first gen subcompacts from Ford and Chevrolet, Toyota introduced version 2.0 of the Corona the year before, and Datsun issued a refreshed 510 the same model year as the 1970 Corona.
Am I the only one here who wants to shove a giant lime into one of those open back windows?
It found it’s beach.
Only instead of the sound of gentle waves there’s the grumble of nasty forklifts ready to gouge out the windows it has left and deposit it on top of a bunch of other junked crap cans.
“crap cans”
And even competing in a country full of yous, Toyota won.
Or did “we” win? What’s the average weight of Toyota’s product line now? Probably more than that ’66 Impala discussed today.
Hard to believe the Camry is its offspring.
Fun inquiry.
What was the last Japanese vehicle to wear a script font to be sold in North America?
Subaru Leon?
They were never sold under that name here. They were just Subaru DL and GL (and Brat), and maybe a couple other trim designations for special versions (GL-10, for example).
Ooops. I do remember Leon proudly spelled out. Probably JDM.
The ’06 Toyota Solara (Went to block lettering in ’07)
Very nice, good call. I would have thought much older.
I bought one of these (a white 71′ coupe with a two speed automatic) with the intention of restoring it. The styling was very tasteful considering how downright weird things became a short time later (yes, I’m talking to you Subaru). It wasn’t running so I kept it in covered storage at my Dad’s farm. Unfortunately it was during the time when my Dad disowned me and it went off to the crusher.
Really neat car.
:/
so bad jap cars were eavily taxed here in europe back in the days.
infact the simca 1100 (1204) sold so well here because was a very good mid-sized car compared to the competition.
maybe sounds incredible but the simca was more reliable and robust than competitors like fiat, ford, citroen… was a workhorse. i remember how unrefined it was: terrible steering, noisy engine, slow. still they managed to sell it for nearly 20 years!
toyota corona/carina, datsun 140/ bluebird …. , subaru were years ahead of european competition.