I’m not sure this 1983 Toyota Corolla wagon is a car that most folks here (or anywhere, really) would aspire to own, but someone seemed to take care of this 42-year-old wagon, and it’s old enough now to draw stares at the very least, if not having a few people chat with you about it when you’re at a gas station. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Matthews, North Carolina, and they’re asking just $4,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mitchell G. for the tip!
Toyota must have met with Ford executives in regard to naming the paint color; this one is called White. The E70 Corolla was offered in North America from the late 1970s until 1983 and would be the last year for Corolla wagons until 1988. And this is a rear-wheel drive car, so that holds some distinction among fans and collectors.
This one isn’t perfect as you can see, but it has the optional rear window wiper, so that’s nice. It’s coated with surface rust, so that isn’t nice, but that’s an easy fix. We don’t get to see a photo with the rear hatch open, unfortunately, so we don’t know what it looks like in there. The seller says this is a two-owner car with just 91,000 miles on it, so it has a lot of life left, hopefully.
They refer to the seats as being leather, but as drop-dead perfect as they look, I’d have to guess they’re actually vinyl. I’ve seen this exact color and pattern on other ’83 Corollas, and I highly doubt that Toyota offered leather in this car. In fact, a 1983 brochure lists either vinyl or cloth, but vinyl was the only seating material available on the wagon. The center portion is a nice nubby material, and all of the seats, door panels, and pretty much the whole interior, other than maybe the carpet, look almost like new.
The engine and engine bay are surprisingly dirty; a half-hour cleaning would have absolutely worked wonders here. There are several trillion (give or take) YouTube videos on cleaning and detailing an engine bay, and it would have been worth doing that here. This is a nicer engine than the earlier Corollas got; it’s Toyota’s 4AC, a 1.6-liter SOHC inline-four with 70 horsepower and 85 lb-ft of torque when new. Sadly, this one rolls through a three-speed automatic to the rear wheels rather than the available 5-speed manual. The 5-speed manual was two seconds faster to 60 mph and got four mpg more than the automatic. The seller says this car has been their daily driver for eight years and runs well. $4,500 isn’t much in 2025 dollars. Have any of you owned a 1980s Corolla wagon?
Wow you dug up some good memories. First off, these are solid cars, always loved that they are RWD. I grew up with a kid, who, once he got his license had an early 80’s Corola SR5 hatchback, painted the same exact uniquely named color as this one…… White…. And a blue interior like this one. We had a blast with that thing ( it was a 5 speed). The automatic in this probably helped to save it this long. This one sure looks solid. Sad. Another car we saw all the time, didn’t pay much attention to them….. Until they were all but basically gone. This was great Scotty, thanks!!! And a thank you to Mitchell G for locating it too.
I had a black 1980 SR5 Hatchback. Loved it but traded it for an 85 MR2, an incredible vehicle and the last time I ever purchased a new vehicle.
A friend of mine bought one brand new in South Africa and the lift back had rusted out within less than two years! The biggest problem was that completed bodies were moved from the production line to the assembly shop by an overhead cableway that was about 50 yards long and out in the OPEN! This was o.k. from Monday to Friday but those left out from shutdown for the weekend were at the mercy of the elements and the factory was/is only about a quarter of a mile inland from the Indian Ocean!
I purchased an ’81 Corolla SR5 Liftback, new. 5 speed, beige metallic. Super fun to drive. The workmanship was incredible. I eventually replaced the stock springs, lowering it enough to make it even more enjoyable to drive after I put a set of wider, 14-inch rims and a set of 60 series Yokohama Y509 tires on it. Sold after nine years, admittedly the body was dissolving but it still retained the original drivetrain including the clutch. Maybe the best car I ever owned.
At that price,and condition,I’m surprised it’s still for sale.
I bought a repoed 1988 Corolla FX in 1990. Got a steal deal on it, Not the same of course but it had an automatic. Drove that car anywhere for 15 years, including off road in the Anza Borrego desert! Set of tires (13″) was $120. Best car ever, wish I still had one! This will be gone quick.
If it was a stick and had A/C, I’d be all over this as a DD.
It will make someone a nice little commuter without all that computer junk on today’s cars
Will someone tell the seller that is not leather seats we are looking at? Those are perforated vinyl seats in a Corolla. A Corolla wouldn’t come with leather. Cloth or vinyl. As a wagon it might have been bought with vinyl for easy cleaning with rambunctious children & their muddy shoes.
I remember these cruising the streets as a teenager. There was a recession & interest rates were super high. Middle class people couldn’t afford to pump gas into large American cars. These cars were popular because they were inexpensive reliable & got great gas milage.
I knew a guy next town over from Mathews, Mint Hill. He was the go to guy for ANYTHING early Coronas. Sold him a bunch of Toyota glass for those Coronas.
I had many 1980 – to 83 Corollas back in the day, they were sort of my specialty, in 83 they went to a 1.6 motor with a lot of emission controls on it and it didn’t have the power that the 80 to 82’s had with a 1.8 motor. There was no leather interior from the factory, only vinyl, this one will need a new radiator soon by the looks of it. But it is a nice find and will probably sell for close to the asking price.
We bought one of these new for my wife’s DD. Ours was silver with A/C and a five speed. Reliable, comfortable, economical and it could haul a surprising amount of stuff. The only downside was that the tin worm was establishing residence by 1989 when we sold it and replaced it with a new Isuzu Trooper because we wanted to access the four wheel drive beach in the Outer Banks. Both the Toyota and Isuzu were vehicles that I would buy again. GLWTS.
really like to see these today w/a 10 inch longer WB. Ideal for me…
No need to re-power, a 4 speed slush bx (some kinda OD) would B nice too
These are worth nothing. However very reliable units! Drove one as a support vehicle to a bus from Vermont to Veracruz and back!
Perhaps worth nothing to you.
GONE.
Living in Africa these era Corolla’s were the bees knees, everyone and his uncle had one and no matter how badly they were treated they always came back for more. At one time I was a used car dealer and ANY Toyota was sold just about before I had checked it out for roadworthiness. I once paid a guy a deposit to hold the car while I went to my bank to draw out the necessary cash to complete the deal (that’s how it worked back in the day, remember?) and after paying him off I drove the car back to my showroom but noticed a car following me right back to my yard. When I got out of the car the driver was walking towards me asking “how much did I want for the car?” I asked him how come he knew that it was for sale and he told me that there was a sign still on the rear window. I had noticed it from inside but couldn’t read it of course. He bought the car there and then! Great cars apart from their ability to rust virtually overnight! I currently drive a 15 year old Ford Focus which I would swap for a decent Corolla in a heartbeat!