The fuel crisis of the early 1970s saw many potential buyers turn their focus to small cars that were cheap to both buy and run. Japanese manufacturers had developed the production of such vehicles into an art form, providing a wide variety of choices. One of the most popular was the Toyota Corolla, and this 1976 example is a gem. It recently underwent a thorough restoration, and it presents beautifully as a result. I must say a big thank you to Barn Finder Barney for spotting the Corolla listed here on Craigslist in West Covina, California. The seller set their price at $13,500, and while they indicate that they won’t look at low-balls, it appears that they might be open to respectful offers.
Toyota lifted the covers on its Third Generation Corolla in late 1974, with cars remaining in production until 1981. The company’s North American sales volumes had been respectable to that point, but they skyrocketed as many buyers, especially those in two-car households, placed a greater emphasis on fuel efficiency following the energy crisis. This 1976 example recently underwent a thorough restoration. The seller commenced the process using a car that had spent its life in a dry climate. That ensured that the vehicle was rust-free. They massaged the panels until they were as straight as an arrow before applying a fresh coat of Code 023 White paint. The results justified the effort, because this little gem presents as nicely today as it would have the day it rolled off the lot. The trim and glass are in good order, and the build included repainting the steel wheels in their correct shade of Silver.
Powering this Corolla is the range-topping 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, which the first owner teamed with a four-speed manual transmission. Interestingly, the company quotes power and torque figures of 75hp and 90 ft/lbs for cars sold in North America, while those in other markets produced as much as 84hp and 90 ft/lbs. This car would have struggled to top 100mph, but that was never Toyota’s focus. The ace up its sleeve was the ability to nudge 40mpg, which helps to explain the Corolla’s sales success. This Toyota’s restoration included an engine rebuild, with the seller also installing new brakes, new front struts, and new tires. They state that it drives exceptionally well for a vehicle of this age, and it appears to be ready for a fresh set of adventures with a new owner behind the wheel.
This Corolla’s interior didn’t escape the seller’s attention during the build, receiving what appears to be a complete retrim. The Brown upholstered surfaces are in as-new condition, with the same true of the carpet. The dash looks nice, but there are a couple of question marks hanging over the interior. It is unclear what is hiding below the dash cover. Cracked pads were common due to UV exposure, although this cover may be there purely to protect an uncracked pad. The passenger-side kick panel appears to sport some damage, but the greatest weakness is the installation quality of the aftermarket stereo. It is crooked, and I’m surprised that, considering how meticulous the attention to detail has been, this has slipped through the seller’s net. It may only require a tweak to address the shortcoming, but I would be tempted to source an original radio that would return the interior to its factory specifications.
The 1976 Toyota Corolla might not be the most desirable classic car on the planet, but these cars have a strong following. The engineering was hardly groundbreaking, but the Corolla helped to cement Toyota’s reputation for rolling out vehicles of all types with bulletproof reliability and industry-leading build quality. The seller’s price is well above the market average, but it is worth asking yourself when you last saw a nicer example. This Corolla has only been on the market for a few days, but how quickly do you think it will find a new home?
I had this exact car in HS, except the exterior was dark brown. It was the first new car my dad ever bought, and it was specifically because of gas prices. It was handed down to everyone in the family eventually. I even learned to drive in that car. 0-60 in 10 minutes, but absolutely bulletproof. In the 15 years we owned it, the car never broke down or didn’t start. I couldn’t kill the thing, no matter how badly I treated it. And boy, did I try to kill it. Eventually sold it for $100 with 158k miles on it. Beautiful example of what Toyota does best; indestructible cars. Don’t believe it, check out the Top Gear episode called “Killing a Toyota”. It’s on YouTube in 3 parts.
Wow. Very nice job on the restoration. I remember cars like these getting more and more popular as the 70’s went on. And the gas station lines grew. Chosing a nice rust free car to start with is always a good thing.
One of my friends had one. . One of the shock towers had rusted through and collapsed while he was driving. Fortunately no one got hurt.
Nice Car 👍 rwd and stick 😎
“Hangin’ out,,,,down the street”,,That 70s Show was one of my favorite shows. Red Forman, who was strangely like my old man, had a ’76 Corolla, only orange. The irony there was, the show took place in Wisconsin, and while the producers never mentioned who Red worked for, a “local auto parts plant”, but it was pretty obvious it was AMC, and THEN, he buys the very car that helped lay him off. This car really changed everything for Toyota, not unlike the Civic for Honda, and sorry Red, Asian cars were here to stay. Once again, it was rust that claimed practically all of these. I read, they were made from rusty US scrap steel bought from us in the 70s, and this could very well have been a ’65 Chevy in a previous life. These had lousy heat, crappy seats, 2″ doors, but gas mileage was the hot button, and many a folk gave up quite a lot for that feature.
That was a fun show! I was able to attend a filming of an episode because a friend of mine was on the production team and got me tickets.
As I recall early on in the show Red’s neighbor Bob gave him a bit of sass over buying the Toyota. Red said that the the last time he was that close to piece of Japanese machinery it was shooting at him! I think neighbor Bob went on to buy an AMC Pacer. In general though for a show set in 1970s Wisconsin AMC cars were few and far between.
Rust was the biggest killer of those early Japanese cars. In areas with winter salt you’d watch the body fall apart while the engine kept on running.
Good one, I watched that show so many times, and never realized Bob did drive an orange Pacer. It was shown only a few times, like going through the drive thru. Apparently, Fez had a black Gremlin I never saw either. I think the episode where Eric takes Reds Corvette for a spin was the funniest. “We’ve all been there, haven’t we?”
Crappy seats, lousy heat nothin! I owned a same vintage Beetle after my Corolla experience. Absolutely everything about the Toyota was better than the VW. Everything.
I know, comparing the Corolla to a Bug isn’t exactly fair. The Bug was a bare bones car, these had a shred of class. What I’m saying is, people gave up their cushy LTDs and Impalas for these, and had to be a bit of remorse there.
When Red (actually the actor that portrayed him) played a villain on a few episodes of Star Trek Voyager, I was disappointed because at no time did he call anyone “Dumbass”.
My dad had a blue ’76, bought new when we lived in Detroit. I know he got some flack about it, but he loved it. I learned to drive stick in it, and boy was it ever slow (and not that easy to shift). I remember he had to have a plate welded into the floorboard on the driver’s side, because (you guessed it) it rusted right through.
Wow, what a time machine. Pretty sweet little pedestrian ride. Looks to be clean as a whistle. Nothing special except for its survival and the ability to run long and hard on a little gasoline. Neat reminder that simpler can be better.
Apparently there may be virtually no other old RWD Corollas left, ir nobody cares about them, or so it seems. I have a good 4-spd transmission for one and no one wants it!
I bought a used 76 Corolla back in 88 to use as transportation while working on another car (67 skylark gs). I think I paid $600 for it. It was a mustard yellow exterior (my wife called it puppysh . . . yellow) with the same interior as above, though no where near as good. Speedo and odo were broken, who knows how long. It showed 168k miles on it. It was not in the best of shape but for the 14 months I had it, the only problem was the gasket on the fenderwell solenoid was falling apart and on one particularly wet day, fried the alternator. No idea how many miles on it (prob 200k?) but it ran good enough to drive it from Houston to Phoenix to give to my brother and it never had a problem.
I think if you look up Bulletproof in the dictionary, there’s a picture of a Corolla!
neat looking but why?
Why not?
I don’t know that the stereo is installed crooked. Looking at others online, the dash doesn’t appear to be flush straight across. It appears as if the dash ever so slightly comes to an inward point, just on the left side of the stereo. I think in that pic it’s an optical illusion.
Parents had this exact car, even the same color combo. Ran like a top, never left us stranded. Got handed down through the family and eventually ended up with cousins who were teenagers in the early 90’s. I think it’s parked in a tree row at their parents farm retired from a long duty of commutes and young kids driving it.
If it is parked in a row of trees, you should go get it and then make it run again.
Make a video series of this adventure.
Very nice. I just wish my ’79 looked half this good
My first and only new car was a 1972 Corolla 2 door with the 2-TC engine and a 4 speed. 40mpg? I was thrilled if I got 27 mpg on the highway. I did put over 160K on it. $1800 new. Took a 2 year loan and paid it off.
I remember looking at these in the showroom and making fun of them. The inside plastics used had an awful odor. I said out loud so the snoopy listening salesperson could hear, that these were going to be a huge financial failure. Had to kind of eat those words. They did rust something horrible, but most cars did in those days.