I saw a stylish little car the other day. Waiting in the drive-through lane at Taco Bell. The car was sort of – well — old. And small. But still stylish. I made a mental note of the model # from the emblem on the back, and looked it up today on Wikipedia.
It was a Toyota model 1900. Later years it was called the “Corona” apparently. From the Wiki photos I think the one I saw was an early 60’s vintage. 1962 or something. Wikipedia says this model started production in 1957.
So I’m wondering. The oldest Toyota passenger car in America still on the road?
You must live in a part of the country that gets no snow and very little rain.
Toyotas that were made that long ago disappeared from the east coast several decades ago, after falling apart from extreme rust problems!
I remember seeing the Toyota 1900 or Tiara on display at our county fair back about 1960 or 1961. There was a Toyota dealer, but the dealership didn’t last very long. In 1971, I test drove a 3rd generation 1968 Toyota. The body fit together well and it was much more quiet than the 1971 Datsun P 510 demonstrator that we also tested. However, the 1968 Toyota had a 2 speed automatic and didn’t have very good acceleration, so I took a pass. The car was on the lot of the Chevrolet dealer, so I reasoned that the former owner may have been dissatisfied after 3 years of owning the car.
I would guess you’d find the oldest Toyota on the road to be from the 1st year any significant # of Toyota’s were imported into the US, 500 or more. Then look at CA, AZ, TX, NM, FL DMV records as it likely lived its life in one of those states.
I drove through IL with a friend who had an old toyota, seemed to be a little boxier than the one in the link. I do not know if the engine was not tuned properly or if it was severely underpowered. In the rolling hills of IL he went as fast as possible down the hill to keep a reasonable speed going up the hill. Our joke was if you need to slow down turn on the ac!
The short answer is sort of. The first Toyota delivered to the US was for the Japanese ambassador, it was a Crown model. It was listed on ebay a few years ago and the asking price was quite high. It is a collectors item and supposedly road worthy at the time of sale, but I doubt it is anyones daily driver.
No matter what it is, the age is not impressive. How many older cars are on the road from Packard, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz, and even Jaguar?
Honda, Toyota, Nissan all had MAJOR rust problems until the mid-80’s. Wife had a 1980 Datsun 510…It was a rust bucket by 1986 when she bought her first Honda. The Honda was much better. The 510 ran GREAT. Engine was very durable…never had a mechanical problem…but it rusted out way too early. My dad owned a 72 Corona. Again it was a rust bucket by 1980.
The oldest ones were callled Toyopets, and came in the mid 60s. They were not very good cars; although the engines were much better than English imports of that time. The were quickly withdrawn and better models introduced.
The first serious Toyota was the Corona of 1968; it was a tough little car with a somewhat cramped interior. In dry states there will still be some on the road.