Toyota Corolla at 60: making the ordinary a virtue

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Across 60 years and 12 generations, Toyota has provided more than 57 million motorists with new cars carrying the Corolla name. Millions of families on the move across the planet,…

Across 60 years and 12 generations, Toyota has provided more than 57 million motorists with new cars carrying the Corolla name. Millions of families on the move across the planet, putting their trust in a car built not to wow or impress, but to deliver on its promises.

It has a tendency to be regarded by the mass market as the Captain Sensible of cars. And it wears that moniker well, for many of its buyers are leading hectic family lives and prioritise comfort, reliability and value when it comes to choosing a car. For them, the Corolla ticks the boxes. It was a common sight in the teachers’ car park.

But that downplays how passionate its fan base became in the 1980s, when the fifth-generation AE86 coupe version was the “Hachi-Roku” drifting king.

This was a light, rear-wheel-drive Corolla that proved the depth of engineering pedigree behind the otherwise practically minded family car. Its reputation stands to this day.

Not that every generation was a racing king. Across the decades, the Corolla was a sober choice.

Unlike models like the VW Golf, there wasn’t a definable identity to the range across the generations. Perhaps the most evident design trend was taking its styling cues from the rest of the hatchback market, those C-pillar angles that were nodding tributes to Ford Escorts or Peugeot 205s of their time.

The Corolla story begins in 1966 amid the postwar economic boom in Japan, as the population grew and innovation was rampant across all sectors of industry and society.

The two-door saloon was meant to follow the traditions of European car makers in creating a “people’s car”. Within three years it was Japan’s bestselling car.

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