While definitely not ready for the Pebble Beach Concours, this 1969 Toyota Corona hardtop coupe nonetheless resides in Pebble Beach, California where the seller has it posted here on eBay. It’s somewhat rare to come across a two-door Corona from this era, and this one is a bit unusual in that the same owner had it for three decades but then just stopped driving it for some reason and the seller doesn’t know why. The seller has it listed with a $3,500 buy-it-now price or you can make an offer.
It’s hard to argue with the success of the third-gen Corona, it was the first one offered here in the U.S. and this body style is the one to have. We’ve all seen the four-door sedan version many times here on Barn Finds, but we’ve only seen a handful of the two-door hardtop Coronas. They’re just plain cool, in my opinion. Not in a 1970 Hemi Cuda or 1970 Mustang Mach I way, but in a quirky, unusual way.
You can see that this example will need a full restoration and some glass, but the seller says that the body is solid and there is very little rust. They show some good photos and a few underside photos, in the eBay listing, but they show an amazing 134 photos on their website here – well done! They also have a great video here on YouTube showing the original owner saying goodbye to the car as it’s on a trailer. It does look more solid than most, especially since this one has been sitting in a field for the last 10-15 years.
From late 1964 to 1970, the first-generation Corona was made and we received them here in the U.S. in 1965. I can’t imagine this car ever being restored, sadly. As good as the body looks, it would still be a huge restoration cost unless a person did most of the work themselves. Unlike the one that I came very close to buying in 2016 for $7,000, which had a five-speed manual, this one has a column-shifted Toyoglide two-speed automatic. Bummer.
The rest of the interior appears half-decent and half-trashed, sort of like life itself. Jesse showed us the exact car that I almost grabbed back in 2016 and that one was a jewel compared to this non-running rough-as-H project Corona. I paid a company called Lemon Squad to check it out for me and they checked it out top-to-bottom and took 75 great photos. I highly recommend that company if anyone needs a personal inspection – and no, I do not get paid by them at all, they were just great to work with.
Ouch, the engine is partially-disassembled and who knows what’s been living in there or if any water got into those openings over the 10-15 years that it was parked outside in a field, for reasons unknown. It should be Toyota’s 3R-C, the California emissions version of their 1.9-liter inline-four, which would have had around 90 hp when new. It was an older design with just three main bearings, but it was reliable and durable. We don’t know what happened to this one, however. With values probably not going much over $15,000 to $20,000 in the current market, and that would be for a five-speed car, what do you think this one is worth?
Another Pebble Beach car?
These are interesting looking cars,but where
would you find the missing parts?
LS it with a Tremac 5 speed and leave it as stock as you can on the outside! It’d be a cool little sleeper.
I’d go with an 18RG,or a newer Toyota twin cam.
& after the transplants, how far do you expect to drive with the 54 year old mickey mouse differential, driveshaft, rear springs, & unibody mounting areas that are made to handle an under 80 net hp 4 cylinder motor? I bet you could do severe damage underneath even with a v6 transplant. lol
Of course you do brake,differential,structural and suspension enhancements. I meant just the body outside itself.
Can please stop with all the “LS” crap! Also, Tremec is spelled as I noted.
Why is it crap? One of the most durable and versatile v-8s ever designed. It’s just my opinion what I would do with it. Ohhh….sorry I misspelled. .Can please? Try a pronoun next time after the word can if you are going to reply to someone or a group.
My aunt Midge and uncle Buford had one. Their first new car. Rust bubbles started showing in the first year, and within 3 the floors were completely gone. They replaced it with a lightly used Dodge Polara they drove into the early eighties. Toyota quality did not exist in the early 70’s rust belt.
Dodi is the kookie dealer that provides cars to Wayne Carini and others for the Lemons car show. Great fun watching. This is one of his cars.
☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼 👍🏻 seemed like a neat fella on the show FWIW. 🤷🏽♂️
I guess $3500 is the new $500 in the old car game.
Assuming parts are available, this would make an awesome driving resto. $3500 would be a good price for it.
$3500 ? surely you jest. With no running motor, no known condition of said motor, no rear window, a ratty interior and god knows what else.
$1 Grand would be plenty for this heap. lol just sayin
I think $3500 is a good price for a car like this. Assuming parts are still available, This would make a good resto project.
I bought the blue original paint four speed coupe that was listed on barn finds a year or so ago. I’d consider buying this one for parts but I don’t need any so I’d just be hoarding.
I think this is rare anbd attractive enough to justify spending money on. But it makes sense as a radical restomod rather than a straight restoration. There are plenty of people out there who know exactly what they would do with this rare shell and be happy to pay the cost of entry.
I think this was the first model Toyota which was imported to the UK and as @Ken Neal-Rosario comments, very few survived as they rusted faster than anything, other than a Datsun. There was zero perception of quality in Japanese cars in the UK at the time, they sold on price and the no cost radio which was supplied.
Scrap it this thing has sat to long missing the back glass, or you put a roll cage in it and have fun at the track this summer
My dad was buddies with a Toyota dealer back in the early 70s . He’d buy one blow up the motor and go buy another for 300.00 . Floors rusted out with bricks sitting on the floor and 2×4 holding the from flopping back . I learned how to drive a stick on a 67 3 on the tree . 97 mph was top speed . I asked him why he drove them . His new Chrysler New Yorker sitting in the garage. These things get 50 miles to the gallon he’d say . Still have to say I had a blast driving them AKA trashing them
It always depend how one defines what is rust free as
this car looks to have a lot. And the mice families had
a nice living in its interior.
There is no market for this models so one in perfect
condition might be worth 7500 but here we have a donor
car.
Put it back in the barn and forget you ever saw this turd.
Why such a visceral reaction? I’ve got one and it’s a nice looking car and a lot of fun to drive. I get a lot of nice comments about it when I take it for a drive.
I agree. I’d buy a 69 Corona, or even a Corona MkII, and clean up what I can, maybe upgrade a few things, just enough so I can enjoy it.
Fun fact here Toyota built this car in a high performance version called a 1600GT. Used the same type of engine as the 2000GT one of those sold for 1.1 million dollars recently. Also, there is an old film on YouTube of a race in Japan of a 1600GT outrunning a skyline.
“but then just stopped driving it for some reason and the seller doesn’t know why.”
I’m guessing he was too embarrassed to drive it….especially around a place like Peeble Beach.
They could convert this heap into a golf cart. Maybe/perhaps.
Well, you guessed wrong mr golf cart expert.
A friend in high school had a green one, the first Toyota that I ever rode in. My high school band director had a yellow one. I have owned several Toyotas, but not a Corona.
Try $100.00 and I take it or $500.00 and you deliver it. A long way from $100.00 barely drive it off re-workable/restorable cars in the 80s. Those were the days I cut my teeth in the biz.
$500 sound like a good buying price. You’d have more than enough money on hand to do some clean up and re-build you want.
I picture myself working part time at the local liquor store, and parking this car in front. It would draw a lot of attention here. Or, just go to Cars & Coffees?
Auction update: there were no takers at $3,500 or best offer, so the seller has relisted it for… $3,500 or best offer.
In case anyone is wondering why I like these early Toyotas so much, this was my first car, a 1971 Corolla two-door wagon.