Northwest Survivor: 1967 Toyota Corona Deluxe
The third-generation Corona was really the first successful car that Toyota had in the US – they look sharper and handle much more crisply than the previous Toyopet Crown did. This 1967 Toyota Corona looks like a solid and original example and it can be found here on eBay in Portland, Oregon. The seller has a $3,500 opening bid listed which hasn’t been hit on yet. Let’s check it out.
The third-generation Corona was introduced before the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and they were made until 1970. One of my favorite cars of all time is a T50 Corona, a two-door sedan. I missed out on a really nice 1969 example a few years ago for $8,000 and it’s haunted me ever since. I’d buy one in a heartbeat if I could find one with a 4-speed in that condition. The car shown here isn’t in quite as nice condition but overall it looks solid and the seller says that it’s mostly original.
Oddly enough, the red two-door version that I missed was also in Portland, OR. That’s my favorite region to buy cars from. They typically don’t use salt on the roads, or most of them are salt-free, and it’s not burning hot and dry like the desert southwest so the rubber gaskets and interior parts are usually in nice condition and not cracked and dried out. It’s not good to play favorites when choosing a favorite child or region of the country, but I’ve gotten some really nice cars from the Pacific Northwest.
One thing that isn’t quite as nice on this car is the left quarter panel, the seller thinks that it may have been repainted. This car has a three-speed manual transmission with a column shifter. It seems like most of these Coronas that we see have the Toyoglide 2-speed automatic transmission. The interior will need some work, the seats have seen a decent amount of wear both front and rear and there’s something strange going on with the dash pad. The seller is helping to sell this car for some friends who run a non-profit animal rescue operation, what a great cause, it makes me like the car even more than I already do.
The engine should be Toyota’s 3R 1.9L inline-four with around 90 hp. The seller has provided a fairly long and detailed video shown here on YouTube. The engine sounds like it’s idling quite high but that shouldn’t be too much trouble to figure out. Have any of you owned a third-generation Corona?
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Comments
These never had 5-speeds from the factory, 4-speed at most. That was a case of Toyota being a quick study – they found that Europeans simply expected a four-on-the-floor as the norm, while Americans considered them sporty and a bit upscale compared to the old-man/cheapskate image of the 3-on-the-tree (and wouldn’t buy a car this size planning to carry three in front in any case). Corona hardtops came with four-on-the-floor at launch, it spread to the sedan at the midcycle facelift, and Toyota never bothered engineering and tooling a manual column shift in left-hand drive again.
You’re right, nlpnt, typo there. The red one was in fact a 4-speed. Thanks for catching that.
Had one exactly as you describe. Great little college transport, finished well including Mercedes style windwing ‘wheels’. Traded it in for a Corona Mk 2 coupe. It was a POS by comparison.
In the late 1970’s my friend at the time inherited the identical twin of this car from his Grandmother. It was minty perfect with only 20K miles on it. Bob was in his early 20’s at the time and literally beat the crap out of the car within 2 years. The nail in the coffin was a high speed ditch dive on a snowy back road. The car still ran, but the crash had severely damaged the radiator, front support, suspension, and undercarriage. The car ended up in a corner of his property and is probably still there today. Young people do stupid things, if only he knew what Grandma left him.
is that realy a 1900cc? look more like a 12 or 1300cc. sweet little car.. can remember them when i was kid..
JBP, I was going by the badge on the rear of the car but it looks like a 1.9L to me. Here’s one from a Hemmings article:
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/game-changer-1967-toyota-corona/#&gid=1&pid=3 It looks pretty much the same?
that you are right. havent seen 1900 in the back.. thats i fine engine in a small car.
Too tall to own one, but I do remember these in the showroom at Bruce Browne Oldsmobile-Toyota in McKeesport, PA. I fit in it OK, but I was 12 then. A few years later, not so much. Browne was one of the first to try selling more than one brand of car in the Pittsburgh area. Thanks to the combination of road salt and steel mill pollution (there is a photo taken from the top of the Cathedral of Learning of Forbes Field during the 1960 World Series that illustrates this point) most of them didn’t make it to 1970. They rusted from the bottom and top at the same time!
buddy drove 1 of these in late 70s all over VT/NY/NH & MA, a durable lill 4 dor. The 1 U linked, Scot, has some beemer body lines in my eye. The World Car has been around alot longer than most admit.
Good luck finding any parts, if you need them.
I agree. Mechanical parts I would think would be easier to find than trim and metal.
This was my version. “Friend” borrowed it and blew the engine, dad and I rebuilt it, replaced the stock-type muffler with a glass-pack. Blacked out the grill. Four speed, sounded great, something like an MGB. Still kinda miss it, but no AC, etc. Sold in the mid-1970s for 800 bux, and still made a small profit.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/36tn9li8vpu16m4/AAB5iUedQD7-FfeSBKuV6ZKVa?dl=0
Lovely looking car. I remember these from when I was a boy, way too young to drive a car. I had a neighour who owned one. It was the same colour as this one. I couldn’t tell whether his had an auto transmission or a manual. But at the time I didn’t care. Assuming everything is solid, everything works like it should, and it drives, this looks like it would make a good candidate for restoration, or possibly a restomod. :)
Wow! I want it just for the “freak” factor! Especially being a straight-shift.
I really like the odd-ball cars!
These were great cars and did a lot to dispel the myth that the Japanese built cheap crap (they had some challenging years after WW2). I remember them well and was always impressed with the quality and simplicity.
I agree. Whatever gave we Americans the idea in the first place that Japs produced crap is beyond me.
We had one of these, we were the 2nd owner. I learned how to drive and took my first driving test in it. Like this one, the c-pillar emblems were not installed, ours came with them in factory plastic bags – I looked at them several times wanting to install them but even the dealer could figure it out. Ours was an automatic and was a little tank. I remember my father talking about the extremely pour gas mileage. Geez this thing bring some memories. My Dad traded it in for a new 1978 Honda Accord hatchback – I never knew how much he got for it in the trade but the Accord was a 1000 times a better car.
I want it just for the 3 on the tree!!
I’ve never driven a manual shifting car with the shift control on the steering column. But I reckon it’s something I could do. :)
Nobody has mentioned the most interesting part of this car and that would be the way in which you activate the turn signals.
Now that you brought it up, I looked. No stalk. Where are the signals? I missed that before!
I could be wrong, as I’ve never driven a pre-1970 Toyota Corona, but I think the turn indicator control is in the steering wheel. What would otherwise look like a horn button, might be the control for the turn indicator control.
Yes Car Nut. You swivel the horn ring back and forth to actuate the turn signals.
That is the only thing that ever stood out about this car to me.
I don’t know whether that’s a good way to activate the turn indicator, or if the lever on the side of the steering column is better. I do like the idea of the gear shift control on the steering column.
It seems convenient to me. Your hand is already there driving the car.
What was not convenient was the turn signal switch on my 1962 Chrysler New Yorker.
If that’s how you control the turn indicator, how does one activate the horn? Do you press the hub in the centre of the steering wheel?
Hi Miguel. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never driven a Chrysler New Yorker, or anything Mopar of that vintage.
I spotted one identical in a salvage yard only a few years ago… Yard owner was not licensed to sell cars, and wouldn’t even talk to me about buying it from him… He just waved me off, and walked away. If I would have thought quicker, I probably could have purchased the motor, then the rest a day or two later. :(
My sister owned one in Whitehorse Yukon in the 80’s I remember it being a peppy quick car, tons of fun in the winter time and reliable, it died due to me taking a corner too late and going over the curb almost straight on on with the wheels turned, it was a bit out of alignment for sure, ah… to be 17 again.