Waldorf schools were once very heavily associated with old Volvo station wagons and Corollas. Yes, stereotypes, but I was around one in Eugene enough in the early 90s to say that was a pretty accurate one. So when I found this sitting at the Waldorf School faculty parking lot, it took me right back to that time, when we first arrived in Eugene with three kids and walked up here to this school twice a day with them.
This is doubly poignant, as the original teacher at this school was an old Swiss guy, and he drove a red Corolla just like this one, but a two door sedan. And he drove it for many years to come; he must have had it for several decades. But then that’s not uncommon around these parts, as we saw with this guy who’s still driving his 1980 Corolla that he bought new 41 years ago.
Who knows haw many miles it’s got on it. The seats are splitting, but it’s still soldiering along. And probably will yet for some time to come, if I had to guess.
It’s only got a fairly modest number of bumper stickers.
The red single-stage paint is of course well faded. A good polish job would fix that.
Time to say goodby to the Corolla and memories of Willi Mueller’s red Corolla, which used to sit in the same spot.
This is pre-1981 Corolla because of single headlights, IMHO! Later version got four round headlights.
You have it backwards. 1980 sedan and wagon had the rounds. For 1981 they got the single rectangles like the coupes/liftbacks.
’81 model year exactly, the ’80 had quad square headlights and the ’82-3 had larger side lights that wrapped around the sides farther.
I shall re-title it as an ’81. Thanks.
soldering along.??? What brand of SOLDERING gun comes with this Toyota? L0L The 70s Corollas had good references as they seemed to last forever! I’ve heard of them getting 200,000 miles or more on some of their motors.
Ah yes; I didn’t even proof read this one. Fixed now.
Single pair rectangular headlamp front + 1.8 badge = 1981. 1980 Corolla sedans and wagons had a four round headlamp front, and the 1.6 4A-C replaced the larger all-iron 3T-C for the remainder of this generation’s run in 1982. I would love to know the mileage on this 40 year old survivor.
Great old Toyota, sad to say there’s none like that around here. There’s a nice memory of the school too. If the outside is an indication of what goes on inside I’d say that’s a good school.
We were just walking past one of the kids’ former schools, reflecting on how many schools we don’t deal with anymore, and how at the time it seemed that it would never end. For now we just shovel cash at universities, but that too will pass.
Among their fans, these things are legendary and often have every bit of automotive life wrung out of them like a kitchen sponge.
I intend to cover one of these in an upcoming COAL of my Friends post as I’ve had two friends who drove Corolla wagons like this until their (my friends’) feet literally went through the floors. But that took a long time, even here on the east coast. Anyway, I guess I’ll have to send folks out to the PNW to try to pry one of these out of the locals’ grasp.
Great old Toyota. Their weakness even in relatively mild MD was early terminal rust. Having never visited the PNW, I’ve always been perplexed at how long car bodies seem to last there. Here’s a prime example, thin steel panels typical of Japanese cars then, yet here it is. While I realize use of salt on roads is null or limited, there’s a coastline and a lot of moisture year round… go figure.
I am also originally from MD and felt the same way when I moved to Oregon about
five years ago, ie how can old cars last so long here? In addition to the
lack of salt, low sun damage to finishes and body seals plays a part, IMO.
The delightful shock of seeing vehicles in daily use here that dissolved
completely decades ago in the NE never gets old.
Our friends had one; though their kids didn’t attend Waldorf schools. A slightly different shade of red, it was nicknamed “Old Red”, to differentiate it from their newer Corolla wagon, a late ‘80’s AllTrac which went by ”New Blue”. The former was replaced by a 245 and the latter by a first-gen Previa.
I’m surprised Paul forgot that he’s shot this car before, or simply neglected to mention it.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/curbside-classic-1981-toyota-corolla-wagon-could-have-been-my-previous-car/
I remembered the bumper stickers — I had the same “Drive now, talk later” one on my old Saturn.
I knew I had shot an extremely similar one or the same one; I just didn’t take the time to check.
It’s not the only one still in town.
I live in Eugene and I drive a 1980 Toyota Corolla 3tc wagon I love it and I get compliments on it all the time and it does run like a champ. My son says it’s ugly but it gets more compliments than his fancy newer car
I do like these old Corolla wagons. A simple little beater wagon like this would be a great thing. Oh wait, I have an old Honda Fit, so its kind of the same thing. I just wish I had a stick shift like this one has.
Nobody has asked, but I presume the kids got more for lunch every day than apples, walnuts, celery and mayo? 🙂
I’m pretty sure the Waldorf School Waldorf Salad recipe substitutes plain yogurt for mayo. I’ve seen that done while making it for kids before.
You may–or not–be surprised to know that there’s a very real connection between Waldorf education and Waldorf salad.
The first Waldorf school was named after the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919 since the school was founded by one of the owners, Emil Molt, for the benefit of the children of the factory workers. Molt hired educator/philosopher Rudolf Steiner to create the curriculum. The cigarette company had been named after John Jacob Astor, who was born in Waldorff, Germany before emigrating to the US and becoming the richest man in the world.
In Germany, the schools are called “Steiner Schule”, not Waldorf.
I have a o1 Corolla great cars 99 was a little better so I may be putting a low mileage 99 motor in it soon it’s true just buy 2 or 3 good motors and go for 40 more years and few extra parts like starter alternator and don’t forget rear end Bering s and front end tie rods ect
Thanks Toyota for everything Jesus reigns
I remember driving it once, but quit on the return trip due to the torturing leaf springs’ cargo-truck ride quality. So, I hopped into a VW Rabbit instead.
Nice old Corolla,,and it’s great to see one of these still on the road. They’re long gone from Ontario…thanks, once again, to our well-salted roads. I’m sure they still ran fine when the bodies dissolved. I’ve heard of Waldorf schools, but I never looked into the origins of them. My wife and I never had children, but if we did we would have looked into potential alternatives to public schools.
Another great old survivor .
I’d springs to get the seats re trimmed .
-Nate
This car stii at the parking lot, is for sale?? Dose have papers to register??
No. It wasn’t for sale.