Toyota first set up shop in California in 1957. They would make small inroads into the U.S. market until 1967 when the company introduced the Corona, a mid-size automobile on its home turf that was targeted at the tastes of American drivers. As a result, it quickly became Toyota’s biggest seller in America. This 1968 edition was running when it was parked in 2015 and will need both mechanical and cosmetic attention. From Mountain Ranch, California, this fixer-upper is available here on eBay where the first bid of $1,000 is waiting for a taker.
The Corona (Korona in Japan) was part of the Toyota portfolio for many years, with 11 generations produced between 1957-01. It was replaced in Japan by the Toyota Premio and in the U.S. by the Toyota Camry (I had three of those cars; great automobiles!). The word “corona” is Latin for “crown”, a reference to a larger vehicle Toyota offered called the Crown. The platform was reworked for 1968 and the automobile became known as the Toyota Corona Mark II.
We’re told the seller has an extensive history with this ’68 Corona and may be selling it on behalf of a friend (the wording about that is unclear). The seller implies the car was or has been owned by the same party for 30 years and he’s ridden in it several times. While the red paint has given up the ghost, we’re not sure from the photos if rust is trying to develop into a major problem. The interior has seen better days and the upholstery is ripped, the dash pad cracked, and the carpeting missing in some places.
Although no photos are included of the engine compartment, what should be there is a 1900-cc inline-4 paired with an automatic transmission, the Toyoglide. The seller says he’s removed the carburetor and is currently working on it, so perhaps the car will start after he’s done with that. But at 87,000 miles and idle for seven years, don’t hold your breath. The seller says the car is complete except for a missing emblem and he’s seen these go for $19,000 on the auction block. What will it cost you to get this Toyota into that kind of condition? But when was the last time you saw one of these cars?
A high school friend had one like this back in the early 70’s. We were grown to the ripe old age of 24-25 at the time. He was quite proud that it got better gas mileage another friends VW Bug on a trip from Redding, California to Reno, Nevada and back crossing over Mt. Lassen. I can’t seem to remember for sure if his was red or yellow. He liked the car though, but it didn’t last him long before he blew the engine not checking the oil. Crazy kids did a lot of irresponsible things like that back then.
God Bless America
Only back then?
They still do
Wow cool little shovelnose in a 2 door? And cheap too. This would be a worthy restoration for auction
Gone already
Back in the day a friend of mine bought one new. The only complaint he had was that after 2 years in the California sun, the interior began to split all over. Technically he never had any any problems -. reliable as grandma.
I had one of these – with the standard shift, if I recall, and the engine (the 1900) was the same one used in Toyota forklifts, so, bullet-proof. Not super-fast off the start, but with Pep-Boys gas shocks and beefier tires it was good for some hilly “catch-airs” in Santa Monica – til I noticed that the steering was starting to pull away from the fender-mounting – had to have that welded for reinforcement (heh heh), and the back of the back seat folded down flat too, as I recall – sort of a Japanese “businessman’s coupe”. Also – I was able to order an after-market/N.O.S. replacement dashboard for the car – so it looked good, and wasn’t too hard to install. The interior was otherwise good – and this person may have taken off the headrests when they put on those seat-back covers – mine might have been the ’69 – anyway, it had headrests – essential for avoiding possible whiplash. Good little cars, IMO, and kinda fun.
A friend of mine had 2 of them. We made alot of trips back and fords Norfolk Naval Air base in Norfolk,Va. The only problem he had with it was during cold weather. Sometimes the carb would want to freeze up. That was back in 1977
Had a ’69 also with the auto. Slow and a little noisy but outstanding quality control. Drove it 30k miles without ever turning a screw then traded it out of sheer boredom.
Decent build quality but material quality of the steel and obviously plastics and fabrics were horrible. If you got more than 3 or 4 years out of the upholstery in these early imports you were doing better than most
When I was in college in the 70’s I had a ‘68 fastback that was blue with a white vinyl top and black vinyl interior, a 4-speed, and an in-dash 8-track tape player. It was durable as heck. When I mention ‘Corona’ to the younger folks today they’ll sometimes try to correct me and say ‘Corolla.’
I’ve told the story about my Dad’s $75.00 1974 Corona. In terrible condition, but virtually unstoppable.