Here’s a 1976 Toyota Corolla Deluxe in an eye-popping shade of orange. It’s listed on eBay with an unmet opening bid of $3,250 and there are over four days left on the auction. That seems like a good price from looking at the photos, given the recent rise in prices of vintage Japanese vehicles. This one will have some shipping and customs charges involved if you’re not in Canada. It’s located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
This is a third-generation Corolla, an E30 or, specifically, an E31, since it’s a two-door sedan. This thing looks like new to me, and obviously it’s been repainted, it can’t be original paint being this perfect, can it be? The seller lists a lot of things that have been done to this car but they only say that it’s a 7 out of 10! I would say a 9 out of 10 just in looking at most of the photos.
I guess I don’t know what they mean by knocking 3 points off of the 10-point scale. It looks great to me, at least from the photos that they provided, even if those photos aren’t the best. I guess that the reason may be that the title is listed as being “Rebuilt, Rebuildable & Reconstructed”. Even so, every gap is perfect that I can see and if there isn’t any bodywork on it, who really cares for a $3,000 car. The vast majority of Japanese cars from this era have been heavily modified so give me a rebuilt car that has gone back to original spec any day of the week.
This is the only interior photo, and you can just barely tell that the passenger arm rest is missing, and since there aren’t any photos of the dash at all, I automatically assume that it’s cracked otherwise they would want to highlight how perfect everything is inside the car. So, plan on some interior work here, that would be my guess. But, the seats look perfect so that’s a bonus. And, it’s a manual transmission car, which is always a bonus. Here’s a photo of what it should look like in there.
In looking at the ID plate there on the firewall, this was a #128 Silver car that has been painted orange, unfortunately. Not that I don’t absolutely love orange cars, but I always like things original spec. And, the engine bay is one area that also needs a bit of sprucing up, but it doesn’t look too bad in there, just not up to the quality of the exterior of the car. This is Toyota’s 1.2L, 3K-C engine – 1166 CCs of fun packed inside of a four-cylinder package with a crazy 55 hp! I had this exact drivetrain in a 1971 Corolla 2-door wagon (my first car) and it was not fast in the least but I used to run it on an ice racing track and it was plenty fast for that. If this car were a few years older I’d be a serious bidder. Have any of you owned a Corolla of this vintage? Do you think the “rebuilt” title spells trouble or have you gotten a vehicle with a rebuilt title in the past and had good luck with it?
Scotty, I don’t know how you did it, but you just stumbled upon Red Forman’s 1976 Toyota. http://blog.drivewheaton.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Red-Foremans-1976-Toyora-Corolla-638×300.jpg
I loved “That ’70’s Show”. The writers were spot on in their portrayal of what it was like in the mid-70’s. I was there. In case you missed the irony of Red Forman’s Toyota, in the show, he was laid off from an automotive facility, they never said who, but being based in Wisconsin, the 1st thing that comes to mind, was AMC, partly because of imports, and and he fought in Korea, so he’s the last person to buy an Asian car, but due to the gas crunch and being laid off, it was the only car they could afford.
I had a Corolla, little older, ’70, maybe, not a bad little car, but sure was thin. I think I paid $50 bucks for it. Great find. Serious rusters, amazing to see one like this.
Thanks for the photo Howard, The bonus there being Hot Donna!
wrong color :)
Back in 1979 I had a Girlfriend who’s older brother bought one of these brand new. It was white with tan interior and rubber floor mats. I think it was $1999 if I remember correctly. It was a complete stripper. I can still smell the plastic of the interior. It seemed like a nice car for the money at the time.
There was also a ’74 stripper Corolla,
called “The Answer”,which was about the same
as a B210 Honeybee,with a 1200cc engine.
Love it. Basic transportation.
Back when I was about 19 I had a friend who worked at a Toyota dealership .He called me one day and told me someone just traded in a 77corolla ,and if I wanted it I could have it for $300 bucks .Only problem was it was a standard .Well I didn’t know how to drive a stick,”but bought it anyway.When I went to pick it up my buddy asked how was i going to get it home.I said I’m driving it .He laughed at me and said good luck.I’ve been hooked on standard transmisions since that day.I hate to admit it but that corolla was one of the best cars I ever had.It only screwed me once,It was durring a torencial down pour ,and I had to catch a ride home from some dude who drove like an idiot .But it was only a cracked distributor cap and it was up and running the next day.These Corollas are good dependable cars.
I had a ’71 1200,right after the gas crisis.
It was a gutless wonder,but well made,& would get
50mpg on the highway.It was a well-made car though.
Later,I put the metal fender flares from a ’74-
SR5 Corolla,leaving them Black.I had the car painted
a bright Corvette Can Am White.I called it an “SR4”,
because it only had a 4 speed.
one of my girlfriends had one about 1978…..kinda clashed with my Cuda and thrush mufflers….at least her dad thought so…..me moving down the road…..
A good friend of my wife recently passed away and willed me her 1979 Corolla. Post-it yellow. She was the original owner and it only has 82,000 miles but sadly, it has an automatic. It’s in excellent shape, but does have some issues; driver’s seat upholstery torn, some rust in a few spots, cracked dash pad, missing armrests, obnoxious trim on the side, and the heater is screwed up (stuck on high). It needs to be cleaned up, but when I get to it this spring it will be a sweet looking li’l ride.
pic of my new corolla
couldn’t get it to load
try again
Is rebuilt title a nicer way of saying salvage title?
great cars with the 1600 cc motor, this one would be a little slow but likely get you there.
I like this car a little now, but in the ’70s & ’80s I hated them. When I was in high school in the late ’80s, this gen Corolla was the most common car in the school parking lot. Cheap wheels then. Most seemed to be that ugly mustard color. My memory of those days is strong enough that I couldn’t bare to own one now.
I was just thinking of this same car the other day. I’d been recalling a date in college with a young woman I’d crushed on for years. She picked me up in a Corolla that was this same color combination. It was freshly restored by a local gas station. She was having some trouble with it, and I remember suggesting that she needed to take it back to them and get those things fixed. Still it seemed like a decent deal for her. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t a second date… I dunno. Pretty sure that car is long gone though, eaten up by NYC roads and winters.
This little beauty sold for $3,250, ugh, a killer deal.
As I mentioned before, I had a 1200 version which I did not like, maybe because it was quite worn by the 80s.
I also had an identical to this one, 1976 Corolla ex-works rally car, factory built, which ran a twin cam 1600. I was the 3rd owner and this car handled extremely well. 100mph on dirt roads was no problem and an incredible introduction to the advantage the works drivers have over private teams.
How do we load photos?
Lovely looking car. It’s nice to see an original survivor of a 1970s Toyota.
I think readers know that Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is in Canada. Why do Americans always name the country after the city and province? Us Canucks don’t enter Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America, for example.