The influx of vehicles from Japan that have seen little to no use shows no sign of abating, especially as the age of certain vehicles make it possible to legally import them with relative ease. Examples like this 1994 Toyota Corona are true time capsules, with only 13,000 original miles on the clock and remaining in showroom condition. Plus, for just $7,500, you can own a virtually brand-new Toyota that isn’t a run-of-the-mill Corolla or Camry. Find it here on PostalCars.com, which has a whole host of recently imported one-owner JDM vehicles for perusal.
While it’s on a site specializing in former postal vehicles, this Corona wasn’t used for that purpose: it was purchased new by a wealthy family to use as the grocery getter – literally – for the housekeeper to run errands in. The car didn’t see use beyond this purpose, hence the low miles. The bodywork looks near-perfect, and I can’t imagine a housekeeper out there who wouldn’t be petrified of dinging up the boss’ car. The seller reports it was serviced every six months by Toyota.
The interior may seem basic by today’s standards, but at least it reminds us of the days of no fuss cabins free from expensive touch screens just dying to break. Despite being the maid’s car, it’s great to see a factory manual transmission inside, and the cloth buckets are handsome if not inoffensive. Factory floor mats remain installed and it appears to retain its orignal cassette deck. Power windows are included as a basic convenience feature, but no airbag lights to worry about here.
The underside, as the seller claims, looks clean enough to eat off of, and I’m inclined to agree based on this picture. While most JDM imports are focused on the exotic sports cars and forbidden fruit that never made it to our shores, commuter cars like this offer buyers the opportunity to drive a nearly-new vehicle from the era in which you could still feel the suspension working and shift your own gears. While JDM trucks and sports models get all the attention, a near-new Corona may be worth a look.
I wouldn’t want to own a RHD car (unless perhaps it was a concours-winning XK120), but that’s an interesting site. If I was delivering mail, I’d rather depend on a Toyota like the featured one than, say, a Jeep Dispatcher – no offense to fans of Postal Jeeps.
And no way to drive them in California
Original LHD US-spec ’90s Toyotas must be plentiful there, though. Even manual transmission ones with a bit of looking. Higher mileage and more wear, yes, but far from used-up.
outside of the few Mercedes and Porsche’s that were imported to Japan in LHD, almost no left hand drive cars exist there.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Boy this thing sure looks like a 90’s Taurus.
Front end looks more Caddy Cateraish to me..I bet that engine is bullet proof
Drove one of these new from London to Scotland and back as a rental. Meh.
I don’t know why I’d spend $7500 for a few decades old plain Jane Toyota with the wheel on the wrong side even a similar mileage 2012 Camry 4 cylinder is like 3 grand more with all around better comfort, safety, reliability, performance, and features??
Hard to compare a US built Camry to a JDM Corona, different world, just have to drive it to realize the difference. Also not sure there is a 13k mile 2012 Camry in existence, maybe a 113k mile if you are lucky.
A lot of old people buy base Camrys. I’ve seen very low mileage ones only 5 years New with under 40k. Not that it’s the reason for a few favs oldToyota with the steering wheel on the wrong side to be worth so much.. but, aren’t Camrys made in Japan?
I just bought a 2015 Scion XB with 30k for $10250, granted, its an unusually good deal I got. It’s made in Japan.