Toyota began selling imports in the U.S. in 1958. And added the subcompact Corolla in 1969, which has turned out to be one of its most enduring nameplates. Though well-built for their time, the 1970s Corollas have all but disappeared – except for the seller’s 1974 edition, which looks like a great survivor. Located in Richmond, British Columbia, this simple beauty is available here on craigslist. But the price may be hard to digest at $22,250 (whether USD or CDN). A thumbs up to “Curvette” for the tip.
The third generation of the Toyota Corolla debuted in 1974 and ran through 1978 with annual updates. I bought a ’77 2-door stripped-down model when it was a few months old for $2,400, and it was one of the most enjoyable cars I ever owned. The little machines had 1.2- to 1.6-liter inline-4s (we assume the seller’s car has the smaller one), and they were usually paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. Nothing fancy here as mine had a rubber floor covering and plastic trim. The Corolla’s main competition from Japan was the Datsun B210.
This 1974 Corolla could be one of the nicest ones left. The seller is few on details and says it has just 41,000 miles. We’re also told it has an automatic transmission in one part of the listing, but a clutch pedal is distinctly visible in the photos. Its dark brown exterior and interior are said to be original and in mint condition. So, it makes you wonder how this happened since most of the cars were ridden hard and sent to the graveyard in the 1980s.
A car like this should appeal to Japanese car collectors. It’s not a crotch rocket but a super nice example of what kind of new car you could get 50+ years ago for $2,000 or so. The seller will entertain trades but seems interested in construction and farm equipment. We wish we knew the story and history of this little transport.
Sounds like you really enjoyed that Toyota Dixon, quite an endorsement that it was one of your favorites. 👍
Dated a girl 1976/77 that had this exact color and hubcaps but bet it was an automatic….really nice girl….her daddy must have not liked my Thrush mufflers….
$22250 Canadian is $15900 US. Since it’s advertised on Canadian Craigslist the price is in CDN. Like Russ says, still a lot of money.
You meet the nicest people in a Toyota.
I remember as a kid in the early 1980s a neighbor had a dark blue corolla similar to this. I am a toyota loyal fan and this would be a fun summer car with the uncertainty of gas prices these days.
I might’ve been your neighbor. My dad had a blue ’76 that we held onto for ages, which like most of them, eventually died a rusty death. I learned to drive stick in that thing in the 80’s.
I love this!I have very fond memories of my grandma’s silver 1978 Toyota Corolla 2-door with black interior! It is with these cars that I learned about Toyota’s great quality and reliability!! 👍🏻
One of the cars that people absolutely flocked to after the first oil embargo. I wouldn’t pay 15,900 to own it, but it’s certainly a rare piece of history. The bulk of these rusted into oblivion before the mid-1980s. Corrosion protection was not their strong suit.
Toyota’s still not hot on rust prevention. I just bought a 2015 corolla and got underneath it one day to inspect its condition. One thin coat of factory primer and zip all rustproofing paint. Seriously, it had nada paint under there apart from the grey primer. I’m assuming this is standard with Japan manufactured bodies and it’s up to each country’s distributor to decide if there’s a need for rustproofing. The spot welds under there were showing some light rust stains but nothing catastrophic.
I had a Datsun 510 wagon way back when, so I’m OK with the Japanese cars of that era. But I’ll take my $6200 USD ’65 Electra over a 16K Corolla anytime.
That’s comparing apples to oranges. They both have four wheels, but they serve completely different purposes. Its like comparing an MG Midget to a Chevy Suburban.
In the context of comparing two cars as “classic” cars or hobbyist cars, I think the comparison is valid. Mine is bigger, better, and cheaper!
really nice duce 1/4. i love it.
Beautiful Buick Rex!! When did you get that?
Thanks Driveinstile,
I bought the Electra a couple weeks ago near Melbourne, FL. It’s up on the lift getting a complete brake overhaul. I went from 2 Chryslers and a Buick, to 2 Buicks and an Imperial. I have a sickness…
Sure is crazy what comes out of those garages, I had a very similar car many moons ago. It was a ’72, but close enough. Mine was an automatic, another $50 beater. Toyota never really had a feeble initial car to overcome, like the Honda 600 or Subaru 360, and went right to the Corolla. It was a smart move, as the Corolla was a good car right off the bat. It was a game changer for people like Red Forman, that previously had no interest but fuel mileage was the hot button. The irony there was, Red buys a Toyota while being laid off from his factory job( they never say who, but speculation was AMC) certainly attributed to imports. He wasn’t alone. A slow start in 1969 with about 65,000 cars sold, to almost 250,000 PER YEAR in the 70s. You could say Corolla set the standard for all small cars to come. The posting is gone, so someone wisely got a hold of it, like always, we don’t know what the sale price was, there simply can’t be many left like this, or at all. Amazing find.
Red also drove a Visa Cruiser rather than a Matador. I think both cars easily resonated with people watching the show. The thing about these Toyotas is that they excelled in practicality and reliability. Most people remember that it still ran fine after it rusted in two.
Ad deleted probably sold,
Don’t see any early Corollas around anymore. This is well worth preserving for it’s influence on car history alone. Aside from the dreaded steering wheel cover (why, oh why do people do this?), it looks to be fairly pristine.
That’s for sure.. I haven’t seen any in decades. As to the steering wheel covers, people did it (including yours truly) because they were once available for cheap at wally world, and the even better part imo is they were ALL leather and they’d last for years.
Bought my only new car in 1972…a white 2dr 2TC 4 speed Corolla for $1800 and put more than 160K on the engine with only a head gasket replacement and clutch. Coming from NYC to NC it did have some rust, but I wore it out. Sold it for $50 to a neighbor.
I got a nice original paint 69 Corona Sport Coupe 4 speed on Barn Finds a few years ago for 6,000 dollars. My how times have changed.
Back in 74 and again in 76 I drove a red one from Vermont to Veracruz and back! It was a support vehicle on a school trip along with a Dodge B200 to do the running around while the 65 GMC bus was used as a stationary kitchen once at camp down there. It was about 5k miles one way and that little car did it effortlessly twice! This unit seems priced high for what it is, but it would a great 3rd car for someone! Thanks for the trip back down memory lane of two unforgettable trips!
This is a bit more than my first car cost, which I paid $400 for back in, gulp, 1981. That’s only $1,621 today; dang, I guess they’ve gone up in value a bit.
I’m a big fan of Toyotas too Russ. I’ve had five beginning with a late ’60s Crown, then a ’77 Corolla Hatchback and next came a late 60s FJ40, then a new ’80 4×4 pickup (which I got wholesale because my wife worked for Toyota at the time) and last was a new ’89 4×4 I also got at wholesale from Scottsdale Toyota. There’s a lot of story behind all of those but suffice it to say I liked them all and I do wish I’d kept the ’89. I sold it at 150k miles thinking it was about done but I didn’t know at the time it probably would’ve gone three times that, and it was an AZ truck with a new timing belt and almost all highway miles. Anyway, this ad made me curious because the Corolla was the first car my wife and I bought together and I found a ’77 Corolla exactly like the one I had in restored condition, but it’s close to ten times the price:
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1977/toyota/corolla/101845169
Amazing this survived. And it’s the poverty spec 1200. Pretty cool. I’d imagine if it was an SR5 the ask would’ve been double or triple and not be too out of line. The ‘73-‘74 Corolla SR5 was pretty neat with the five speed, wider wheels, fender flares etc.