Like many other vehicles from the 1970s, Toyotas from the era are prone to severe rust issues. Luckily for this 1978 Toyota Corolla Liftback Deluxe, it spent its whole life in arid Texas, and it is now available here on eBay.
The first owner of this Corolla was the Hertz Corporation in Dallas, Texas, which poses the question – was this compact once a rental vehicle? If so, it’s hard to tell, because it looks like a clean and well-kept survivor example. Besides Hertz, the vehicle had one private owner during its current lifetime, and it has a clean Texas title.
I have to say, I personally love the orange paint on this example. Not only is it in excellent shape throughout, but also it is nice to remember a time when automakers offered these kinds of bright hues.
This Corolla has air conditioning from the factory, though the system isn’t currently working. The seller claims that it needs a belt to run, and they are unsure about its operating condition. Though an A/C-free interior with black upholstery may be a bit of a challenge during Texas summers, this interior is in remarkable condition.
Supposedly, this ‘Rolla runs and drives without issue, and it only has 56,000 miles on it. Under the hood, you’ll find Toyota’s peppy 2TC 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine, which pairs to an automatic transmission to drive the rear wheels. This example features an upgraded Weber carburetor, but the original one is also provided with the vehicle’s sale.
Another interesting feature is the owner’s manuals and various other pieces of documentation regarding this vehicle, such as a letter allowing the car to fuel with greater frequency during the ‘70s gas crisis.
At the time of writing this article, bidding for this time capsule of a Toyota is at $1,525 with the reserve not met. Undoubtedly, with an example as clean as this, the price is going to jump up as the auction proceeds. Would you take a chance on this brightly colored Corolla, or is this orange liftback a little too ‘70s for you?
I have a friend who had one of these in an almost (IIRC) identical color, however, his was a 5 speed! :-)
Nice looking old Yota!!
That 70’s gas crisis letter is an interesting inclusion. (Makes me think that it WAS a fleet or rental car at one point in time. But seems to have not been abused like SO MANY rental cars.)
:-)
If it had a five speed I would be all over this auction. Love the car otherwise. I owned a 74 2-door Corolla in bright yellow with a 4-speed– it was a fun car to drive, easy to repair and parts were incredibly inexpensive.
When new in Ontario these were everywhere, but disappeared quickly. My guess would be tin worm. This one’s a beauty.
I moved to Texas in 1980 in one of these.mine was a 5 speed.
My first “New Car” purchase was a very similar car. Mine was also a 78, but it was the SR5 which was the 5 speed. I bought it new in early 79, as a left over, and the so called bargain price was not paying the additional dealer mark up. I paid right at 5k for the car, and I really liked it. Mine was called red, but it always looked orange to me. Not as orange as this listed car though. It was fun to drive, could get rubber in second gear, and got pretty decent mileage. I think 20 around town, and 28 on a trip.
I can’t imagine an automatic being to exciting, but if it were a rental car, that seems to fit. Thinking about it, I really don’t remember seeing any other automatics. Mine was a pretty good car. Fuel pump gave up at about 50k miles, while just idling in the driveway. That was annoying and surprising, but again, it was fun to drive, felt sporty, handled well. Showed a picture of it to my kids in the 90’s, they laughed, thought it was a funny looking thing.
As I remember, this little “Hemi” put out 75 hp…. but it moved the thing along just fine.
Had a friend who owned a dark green one, a ‘77 I think, back in ‘77. If this was a 4 speed I’d be all over it….
there is a certain amount of Volvo P1800 in these Corollas
It could have been a rental, but also…
It wasn’t until the mid-80s that private individuals leased many cars, so most dealers and manufacturers did not have leasing programs.
But Hertz did tons of leases, mostly for fleets. My father was a fleet buyer until the mid-80s and he leased tons of cars through Hertz. So it’s possible that this was a leased company car.
The two best cars I ever owned, and I’ve owned 120 or so, were a ’74 Corolla and a ’76 Corolla Sport Coupe. Both were purchased at salvage auction. I was making a little $$ on the side that way at the time.
Both cars required a little body repair but, after that, they were 100% reliable! This was what I loved about Toyotas – you could buy it without hearing it run and be confident it was a reliable car. Not so with the Americans, not with Nissans, and not with Hondas. (Boy-racers were probably trashing the Nissans and Hondas in those days) No doubt about it, when it comes to reliability, Toyota wins!
I’m 6’1″ so the ’74 was a bit small. The ’76 was perfectly roomy though. And with a 5-speed, it was tons of fun to fling around corners!
I had a yellow ’77 5-speed that I bought new. I put 210,000 miles on it and it never once let me down. It did eat alternators though; I had to have it rebuilt about every 40,000 miles. The ’77 differed from the ’78 in only respect, as far as I remember. Catalytic converters had just come out in ’77 and, although my car had an “Unleaded Fuel Only” sticker on it and a nozzle restrictor in the gas filler tube, the car did not have a converter. I removed the restrictor and ran leaded fuel in it for as long as it was available. That would not have been possible with a ’78. One of the best cars I have ever owned!
Yep, I had 2 of these, both stick, 1979, one white and one green, as mentioned above, very easy cars to work on, good mileage, ran forever. Somebody will get a nice car here.
My first car was a 78 Corolla liftback sr5 1.6L “hemi” 2T-C manual 5speed. 332k miles when it died. Drove it to high school, it did great donuts in the field. In 1985 I bought another with an automatic and faceplanted it into a blazers bumper and so ended my corolla days. 8500 rpm and dump the clutch, most fun ever when I had no cares and no bills.
There is a nice 80 Corolla Liftback in Guam Craigslist for 15k. I think I like the 80s model better than the 78 body style.