Enough with all those weird parallel-universe JDM-only cars! For once, here’s one we can all remember – the Toyota saloon that the whole world knows and, presumably, loves. But even in this case, there are Corollas and there are Corollas. Just what flavour of this multitudinous species did I manage to unearth here, in what is, after all, its birthplace?
The E90, just like most FWD Corollas, was a true world car. It was at home everywhere. There were plenty of these in Europe, a bunch in North America and a fair amount everywhere else. When I moved to Bangkok a decade ago, there were still a few of these indestructible things doing taxi duty around town. There may be a few still working for a living today.
The 1987-91 JDM Toyota E90 in some of its manifold avatars (plus one false friend)
There were many, many variants available for this sixth generation of Corolla, launched in May 1987. The liftback (top left), notchback and van / wagon (top right) were the basic JDM range, but one could add the Sprinter variations thereof (white sedan), as well as the Levin / Trueno coupés and the distinctive Carib AWD wagon (in red). Oh, and there were also the three- and five-door FX compact hatchbacks (bottom right). And just to be extra confusing, there was also a thing called the Corolla II (bottom left), but that was a rebadged Tercel, not an E90.
Some markets got these under a different name, too, just to make things extra fun. South African models were known as the Conquest / Tazz in saloon form, or as the Carri as a panel van. The Sprinter, the Corolla’s sister car for the JDM, was known as the Geo Prizm in North America and Australian-made models were sold as the Holden Nova.
Because of the E90 Corolla’s many guises and gals – as well as its many production lines, the platform did not so much go swiftly out of production as it stuttered towards its demise. They stopped making them in June 1991 in Japan and the Philippines, but waited until 1992 in Indonesia, the US and Canada, 1993 in Thailand, 1994 in Australia and 2006 in South Africa for the panel van.
As if your brain wasn’t already fried, there are engines to consider. Many choices were available on the E90 Corolla – it all depended where one was shopping. North American cars only got the 1.6 DOHC, but could pick between the carbureted or fuel-injected kind. European cars added a 1.3 SOHC base spec and a 1.8 Diesel to their mix; Australia had a 1.4 DOHC, as well as a 1.8 DOHC, neither of which were seen on E90s in other climes. Not to be outdone, JDM cars were available in six different displacements, ranging from 1.3 to 2 litres and churning out anything from 64hp for the smaller Diesel to 165hp for the supercharged Levin GT-Z.
I’m not sure what 30- year-old Corollas are like in your neck of the woods, but from what I remember in both Europe and Southeast Asia, they were not known to be particularly well appointed. Comfortable and competent, sure, but all very gray and not exactly plush. On the JDM, one could get the Plain Jane 1.3 of course, but this generation came at the height of the Bubble Economy, so fancy high-trim versions were actually quite a hot ticket. And that’s what we have here.
It’s pretty clear when looking inside that this “SE Limited” business is serious stuff. Power windows, A/C, automatic box – It’s like a mini Lexus in there. It just would have needed a bit of faux wood to reach the Brougham level. The sybaritic feeling is only heightened by the red fabric and brown plastics. Nothing like a warmer colour scheme to tie the whole interior together.
Our feature car may be one of millions made, but in Japan these are now getting scarce, at least in saloon form. I’m not sure why that is, as they are just as solid here as anywhere else and there are plenty of 30-year-old Mark IIs, Crowns and Levin / Truenos about.
Maybe the average Corolla owner tends to see his car in a more utilitarian light. I bet quite a few of these were exported out of the country and are now living a second life somewhere on the Pacific rim – or further afield. It’s still interesting to see a top-tier JDM version, with all that bling on the outside and that nice interior. Even a well-worn (to be charitable) example such as this manages to look like a million yen.
Related posts:
Curbside Beater: 1992 Toyota Corolla – The Almost Free, Almost Perfect Beater, by PN
CC Outtake: 1988 Toyota Corolla 5-Door Liftback – The Interesting Corolla?, by Brendan Saur
CC Outtake: E90 Corolla Wagon – Music Teacher’s Favorite, by Perry Shoar
Still see more than a handful around Las Vegas, The Land That Rust Forgot™. I feel *really* old when I see them running around on “Classic Vehicle” plates, but yes, they’re 25+ years old now 🙁
I’ve pondered these Corollas and Toyotas of this era a lot. Unlike some cars that were blatantly over built for long life such as 70s to 80s Benz W112/123s and certain Peugeots common in Africa, these are just ordinary. Their parts have an almost period correct GM vibe of just good enough to get down the road. They are better assembled at least.
My in laws live in the Dominican Republic. These, with prior and latter generations, are one of the most common taxis and cars on the Island. The used North American versions with the three speed auto and non metric speedo are the most common. I’ve seen several with over 500k miles, usually a little beat up cosmetically, but running and riding fine. Almost always the A/Cs blowing frigid cold. There are a good number of five speed metric South American(?) versions, too. I’ve seen them all over Haiti, also. Though they have a lot of older Peugeot being a Francophone nation.
That old Corolla you had years ago went on to a new life in the Islands… What gives them their magical longevity?
“What gives them their magical longevity?”
Being designed and built during/at the end of Japan’s “bubble” era of super overbuilt cars, and coinciding with the era of fairly modern metallurgy and tech (sequential fuel injection) but BEFORE the era of chasing every last crumb of fuel economy that resulted in (IMO)some loss of durability and increase in complexity. These old A series Toyota motors are very shade-tree friendly. They tend to start to use oil as the miles get up there but it’s entirely possible to re-ring them etc.
Probably Toyata did some serious research/calculations to make the parts as close to the ideal optimization of durable but inexpensive as possible, and the cars engineering was likewise. All of the old school Mercedes here are long gone unless someone has manned up with their ample wallet. Poorer places where they survive, they are probably making or adapting their own parts. I saw a lot of old W123s in my pick a part place back in the 90s and early 00s, often unwrecked. Usually with a final failure the owner couldn’t afford such as a transmission or diesel injection issue or cosmetically worn down. And Peugeot was long gone to the shredder or export barge.
What takes them out of service here is the cost of parts for the 6 monthly inspection, wrecking yards dont have any headlights or windscreens so cracking anything like that and not being roadworthy sends you to the local Toyota dealer and his eyewatering prices, cars like this are driven by people close to the breadline so repairs and maintenance dont happen soon enough the WOF expires then it cant be registered so sooner or ;later plod sees it and pulls it over and another one goes to the scrapyard that probably still runs and drives OK but has maybe $500 worth of minor repairs to be roadworthy the owner cant afford.
Another ubiquitous sight (still) on Siberian roads. Have ridden in several Corollas/Sprinter cabs. Extremely worn in but still holding up great. For many Russians East of the Urals, a 20-30 year old JDM is still a logical aspirational upgrade from an old Lada.
My wife’s family had one, an ’88 I believe, also in white but with a blue interior. It was a tough little beast, my wife drove it in high school and then later we ferried it up from the OC to Seattle in a non-stop 1200 or so mile drive. The little beast impressed me on that trip, going from a choked up lifelong suburb dweller that struggled to top out around 65 or 70 at first to running freely at over 90mph at the end. It wasn’t dripping in luxury like this one what with its black bumpers and tweedy seat material but as with any Corolla, the important bits were there, worked, worked well, and did so for a long time. I’m not sure why that’s so hard for many makers to figure out but reliability and durability are not mutually exclusive to low cost.
Good little cars we used to get diesel Corollas as loaners when putting trucks in for service some had the 2C engine and went well,
I had a 5 door XL 89 Corolla recently NZ assembly and it was fun to drive wider wheel tyre package and stiffer suspension than JDM efforts it could be flung around with gay abandon only 1300cc under the bonnet so it was no road burner but with 5 speed manual it was a very nippy little car to drive no power steer or AC to suck up the few hp it had so good fuel economy too,
they are a vanishing thing here the E90, newer Corollas are everywhere so the older cars are dieing out.
I like that Corolla II in your montage. Nicest looking Tercel I’ve ever seen!
I had no idea there were so many variants. A Japanese Cutlass!
I have a soft spot for this generation, my first car was an 1991 Corolla All-Trac (#3 in the montage) which was the successor to the 4WD Tercel wagon, with its own funky styling and updated ATM-inspired rear end. I believe both were sold as the Sprinter Carib overseas. It is true that 99% of Corollas here were very spartan – they were almost all base or DX models, LEs are rare and usually don’t have much more than the (admittedly very nice) velour and power windows. Mine had the 4 speed automatic however, where many usually had the 3 speed. According to the owners manual the 4A-GE was also offered, but I think only the coupe in SR5 trim was the only one to get it.
My 1989 Corolla All-Trac wagon was an excellent car around town. But it was a 5-speed and geared really low such that I’d get 28mpg around town but only 21mpg on long, 75mph highway drives. At that speed it was turning 4500rpm if I remember correctly. I think the automatics were geared more sanely.
There was an All-Trac sedan but I’ve only ever seen one.
Aaah, the E90 Corolla, probably the most “Toyota” Toyota ever made. Well assembled, extremely reliable, excellently serviceable, and in lower grades at least, exceedingly bland.
My mum had one, NZ new XL, with the 2E Sohc carb 1300. It had a 5-speed, and compared to the KE70 wagon it replaced, it was wicked sporty, lol! An excellent car to learn to drive fast in, as it wasn’t that quick, you really had to work to keep your speed up, and running 165’s or something it wasn’t that great a handler either.
We did the cambelt on it when I started working in the auto industry, and got a hand from one of the mechanics at work. Had it done in about half-an hour. No A/C, no power steer, there was just an alternator belt to take off, and then the cam-belt cover!
Oh, and just a little correction, the engine in the Levin and Trueno GT-Z is a supercharged, not turbo 4A-GZE
Duly noted and corrected about the GT-Z, thank you!
I found one of those actually. Need to write it up…
A minor correction, only some of these were known as Holden Novas in Oz. It was a product of long-term govt plan to force some efficiency on the local manufacturers, then being GM, Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota (for just 17 million people in ’91!), which meant the rather begrudged sharing of certain models and badge swapping. Thus you could buy a Toyota Lexcen (Holden Commodore) and the Holden Nova, and Nissan Pintaras sold as Ford Corsairs and Camrys badged as Holden Apollos.
Almost no-one fell for this malarkey – now there’s a word – and it wasn’t helped that in the spirit of begrudgement, Toyota made its “Holdens” in weird half-poverty spec, such as a bit of mid-level trim but with carburettors on the Nova which was only bottom rung for a Corolla!
We also got the high-winding super-dooper twin-cam jobbie (Gti, I think?), and boy, did they disprove the idea that a Toyota was a dull drive.
I bought a E90 se limited for $1,500 and am happy it’s still in good condition though I can’t find it’s body parts around here