Paul’s superb post from a few weeks ago on the Toyota T40 Corona was still fresh in my memory when I recently came across this senior citizen on a weekend sojourn through our Tokyo neighborhood. I quickly ran back home to grab the camera, then as I lined up this shot, I noticed a couple other JDM gems lurking in the background…
But first let’s take a look at the T40 – my best guess is this is a 68-70 model given the mesh “Schick Shaver” grill with Corona badge (for those that may be curious, that’s a second generation (1986-91) Toyota Soarer coupe in the foreground).
Earlier Corona models had a different grill design with “Toyota” or Toyopet” spelled out in the center. Engines options in Japan ran from a small 1.2 liter mill, up to the 1.9 liter 3R that went in North American models.
My own personal preference would be for a RT55 2-door coupe that came with the 9R DOHC 1600 engine – a Japanese Lotus Cortina…
Back to the picture – hiding in the right corner, obscured by a light pole is a first generation Mazda Carol. The Carol was a light or “kei” class car produced from 1962-70. Its contemporaries were the Subaru 360, Honda N360, and Mitsubishi Minica.
While the back window didn’t go down, the C pillar has a vague early-60’s Mercury Breezeway look to it…
The Carol was significant in that it was one of only two kei class cars in that era to have a four cylinder engine – in this case a diminutive 358 cc unit, mounted transversely in the rear. Most other 60’s minicars chugged along with V twins, horizontally opposed two cylinders, or an inline triple. Sure would be interesting to peek inside those four cylinder bores just to see how tiny they were.
On the left of the pic, parked inside the building is a real piece of history – a Daihatsu Midget 3-wheeler that appears to be in very good condition. This is an MP5 version, made from 1962 to 1972.
Engine in the MP5 was a single cylinder, two-stroke, 305 cc powerhouse, making a pavement-shaking 12 horsepower. Max carrying capacity was 300 kg.
Over 330,000 of these Midgets were made and they plied Japan’s small streets carrying everything from sushi to sheet rock, contributing significantly to the country’s “economic miracle” in the decade of the 60’s.
Interestingly, versions of the Midget (MP5 and earlier models) are still being built in Thailand where they serve as small motorized rickshaws called “Tuk-Tuks”…
Japan has many active collector car enthusiasts, but the hobby is just not as robust as in North America and Europe – it’s hindered by a general view here that cars are disposable items to be recycled. Hopefully all three of these senior citizens can escape that fate and find doting new owners…
I wonder what the Corona’s transmission was? In the US the early sedans had three-on-the-tree with four-on-the-floor coming in for the hardtops and replacing it at the same time the grille changed on the sedans. The two-speed automatic was an option through the whole run, and I believe manual column shift was available in RHD markets far longer.
Regarding your comment about bore size of the Mazda Carol, some online research turned up this:
Bore: 46 mm / 1.81 in
Stroke: 54 mm / 2.13 in
Just got out the finger-and-thumb calipers – that’s tiny!
I’ll take that Z20 Soarer, please and thank you.
Thank you for the photos and history lessons. Maybe someday I will see some of these vehicles in person. Any chance of getting some photos of the 200-series Volvo? I assume those are rare in Japan.
Great finds.
I’d forgotten about the Carol having four cylinders. That’s comparable to the Honda S360 sports car and the craziest pickup ever, the Honda T360, which I wrote up here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-hondas-wild-9000-rpm-mid-engine-t360-pickup-of-1963/
It used the engine from the S360, and had a 9000 rpm redline.
I remember renting a couple of Coronas like that in 1967 while my VW Bug was in the body shop. They had Powerglide-like automatic transmissions, but still performed reasonably well. The only thing I didn’t like about them was that the rear brakes tended to lock up too easily.
Not Powerglide-like by accident. That early Toyota automatic was derived from the GM Powerglide and was called the Toyoglide.
Strictly speaking “Powerglide-like” is more accurate than “derived from the GM Powerglide” as the Toyoglide was an imitation, not an actual derivative.
Nice little selection. That’s the first shovelnose Corona I’ve seen in a metallic.
Metallic Coronas were around, but never common. AMI went their own way in these things. Only on the top-of-the-range model (maybe imported?), and only in about the last year of production, IIRC.
Mostly they seemed to come in beige, kind of like the way 180Bs only seemed to come in orange.
Yeah, I don’t recall seeing a silver RT40. Don’t forget a lot of 180Bs were Safari Yellow too.
With tinted glass too!
The shovel nose Coronas gave a good account of themselves at Bathurst when all entries finished quite high in their race class unlike a lot of the more fancied machinery the oddball Japanese cars all finished.
I think what the Carol most strongly resembles is a miniature Ford Anglia (105E) — not that the Anglia was an especially big car! The Carol has some different detailing, but the greenhouse is quite Anglia-like.
Well these are just all adorable. I’d love to see a Carol up close, it seems like one of the more attractive kei cars. And it is true that the MP5 is still being made as a one of the Thai tuk-tuks. Usually not found in Bangkok, but more common in the north (the one pictured looks like it’s in Ayutthaya, the ruined former capital.) The Bangkok tuk-tuks are more like the one in the photo below.
Carol: Rear engine RWD with a liquid cooled transverse 4 cylinder and side mounted radiator. Like a BMC Mini flipped around. It’s a rare configuration. Mazda could revive the design, with 150% enlargement, put a SkyActiv 1.5L in the back and call it “Super Carol.” Would be one-of-a-kind.
I got to drive a Daihatsu Midget 3-wheeler once in LA traffic. Scary experience.
The Midget resembles somewhat the Isettas often found in Europe in the 1950s
Neat stuff, I think the Mazda Carol’s reverse slope rear window owes more to the the Ford Anglia or Citroen Ami 6 than the Mercury Breezeway, and was there for the same reason. The angled window followed the line of the seat back for a bit more shoulder and head room.
Size wise a 350cc 4 would be cycle territory, since Honda made a 350cc and a 400cc 4 as street bikes but the ultimate in in dinky cylinders has to be Honda’s 125cc 5 cylinder GP bike with a whopping 25cc per cylinder.
That Carol is a delightful-looking little car! One wonders if it would have found more acceptance here than the, um, visually challenging Subaru 360. Plus it’s got four real doors.
The silver wagon in the background of the photo with the Volvo and Soarer is no spring chicken either. What the heck is it though? Can’t enlarge the photo and it looks to me like a mix of early 80’s Maxima and early 80’s Cressida cues.