As more and more car nuts are noticing, the time when Japanese manufacturers were trying to find their way in the North American market are rather interesting – really a truer expression of their country of origin than the later cars, which were fully adapted to North American tastes, and often designed and built there. Early Japanese efforts in the 1960s and 1970s had themes like funky futuristic styling or bizarro-world interpretations of American and European design themes, looking familiar yet unfamiliar. Check out this 1974 Toyota Corona Mark 2 wagon for sale for $1500 in San Diego, CA.
Posts Tagged ‘toyota’
Royal Estate – 1974 Toyota Corona Mark 2
September 16, 2014After Trouble – 1985 Toyota Celica Convertible
July 1, 2014So what do you do if you’re intimidated by the experience of owning a needlessly complex Italian car, but you still want wedgy 1980s styling and a suggestion of sportiness? Giving up on some driving excitement by accepting a durable 22R-E inline four that’s probably only halfway through its lifespan at 165,000 miles will certainly make your life easier, if not more fun. This car also comes from what you might call something of a golden age for Toyota – they had moved beyond a lineup of mostly tinny economy cars, but had not yet arrived at the mostly-appliance lineup they still have today, and had a significant proportion of sporty cars in the family. The Celica was outdone by the Corolla GT-S, MR2 and FX16 in terms of sportiness, but was still a popular contender. Check out this 1985 Toyota Celica convertible for sale for $3900 in Vallejo, CA.
Heavenly – 1971 Toyota Celica
June 4, 2014The Celica nameplate was derived from the Latin word for heavenly, or celestial, and apparently the 1970s Japanese vision of heaven involved a lot of vinyl and plastic. Forty years on, though, these cars are getting plenty of recognition for their combination of style and durability, and some of their more illustrious cousins sold outside the North American market. Those include twin cam engines that should give the best European names a run for their money. As with the European makes, rust has disappeared many of these cars, and the remainders are now hotly fought over by Japanese classic car nuts. However, there are still survivors popping up here and there – check out this 1971 Toyota Celica for sale for C$3889 ($3556 today) in Kelowna, BC.


