(first posted 8/2/2015) When the 2012 Yaris was released in America, it was decided that it should have a lavish marketing campaign. Unfortunately, when it came to actually do it they came upon the realization that there was absolutely nothing to actually say about the car apart from the fact that it was a car. And this being the same people that later brought you “Grounded to the ground” they decided that was good enough, so the slogan for the Yaris became “It’s a car!”. I wonder if they could’ve done much more with the last Starlet. Probably not.
In 1984 the Starlet bid farewell to the American shores, leaving the Tercel to hold down the subcompact fort. The new Starlet was much closer to the Tercel, they were similarly-sized, front-wheel drive and available as either a three or a five door hatchback. It wouldn’t make sense to sell both models in America, where the market was moving towards bigger vehicles and the Americans could only send so many cars a year. In other markets the Starlet lived on providing reliable, if uninspired transportation.
There were a couple of exceptions, like the Toyota Sera had Starlet underpinnings but was made into a retro-futuristic driving pod complete with projector headlights and butterfly doors.
Or the pocket rocket Starlet GT Turbo with its 135 horsepower engine and active suspension.
But for the most part they were essentially motorized shopping trolleys for people that had already drank the Toyota Kool-Aid and weren’t particularly concerned about driving dynamics. With that in mind, nobody should’ve been surprised when they saw the 90-series Starlet was released and was a completely inoffensive and conventional package. If you wanted something with pretty looks in that segment at the time the Peugeot dealer would’ve gladly sold you a 106. And if you wanted something that was thoroughly modern then there was always the “New Edge” Ford Ka.
For power, you had a 1.3-liter gasoline engine providing 99 horsepower, or for thriftier buyers there was a 1.5-liter Diesel. But with 54 horsepower on tap you’d probably want to set off a couple of minutes earlier than usual. It was a Toyota engine, it would get you there; but it wouldn’t get you there quickly.
Now, interiors of city cars in this era are nothing to write home about but I feel as though we have to show it here. Having said that I’ve noticed that in this picture the ‘90s Corolla LCD clock is missing. At a glance, it seems that the interior is the same dashboard they used in the Tercel. With a different steering wheel because the Tercel had to comply with airbag regulations.
So as you can see, what we have here is…a car. Replace it with the Yaris in Toyota’s “Brilliant” marketing campaign and it wouldn’t make the least bit of difference. Sensible and practical. With just the right amount of styling to stop it from looking extremely dull. To use the old simile: if it was a vegetable, it’d be a potato. Add a bit of patina and a couple hundred thousand miles to have it develop some character and call it a day right? No. We’re not done yet, because like its predecessor, if you were in the right place (Japan, obviously) you could add some hot sauce to your potato salad.
For starters, the hot hatchback version was back, now called Glanza. There was a faux-hot version (called Glanza S) that had the bodykit and some badges but without any engine upgrades. The Glanza V added a turbocharger which meant a power bump to 133 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 8.3 seconds according to Toyota. That’s all well and good, but what if you wanted one that looked like it could go off-road. Nowadays this segment is populated by the likes of the Opel Adam Rocks and the Volkswagen Cross Polo. The objective is not so much them being able to go off-roading, but make them more suited to inclement weather and all the potholes and open manhole covers that the concrete jungle can throw at them.
Meet the Toyota Starlet Remix. It has “SUV Style” but don’t expect SUV capabilities.
There was also a Toyota Starlet Carat, which had a different hood, grille and taillights for a more “Clasic” appearance, it didn’t work.
One version that I didn’t see anywhere was the Starlet van, it was essentially a basic Starlet without any back seats or rear windows. I used to see them running around the Toyota complex near my house as parts haulers, company cars and emergency assistance vehicles. This is the only picture I could find that proves its existence and it’s the wrong generation. If you can find one and snap a picture, you bet it’ll get at least an outtake.
The end of the Starlet was also completely unremarkable, it was just its time. As subcompacts became ever more stylish and modern, the Starlet found itself lagging behind the competition. It was no longer time to stick to the safe route and evolve.
It’s successor was in development at the same time that the Starlet was released to the public. It was a much more modern design, inspired by the Toyota Funtime conept and penned by Greek Designer Sotiris Kovos. It had a funky interior with central-mounted instruments and a whole new range of engines.
It was the Vitz! Better known to you and me as the Yaris (or Echo). It was nothing less than an inspired design. But history has a habit of repeating itself and in time the Yaris became dull when compared with the competition, until their marketing department could think of nothing good to say about it apart from “it’s a car!”.
Those turbo Starlets were excellent. While the factory time quoted wasn’t exceptional they responded well to the usual mods, and became rapid little cars. Back in the late 90’s there were quite a few on the boy racer scene in Auckland, NZ. Most famous of all were the “M&M’s”, two with very similar modifications, running larger 1500cc E-series blocks and heavily modified. Very quick little cars.
The older single cam model must be mentioned too, very boxy mid 80’s style. But still quite a goer.
Haven’t seen any turbo P-models is some time now.
BTW, the later one was badged Glanza, not GAlanza.
Flat mate in 2000 had a twin turbo Glanza with all the JDM boyracer kit, fast yep drank fuel yep handled not very well at all, it was traded for a Corona that was gentler on parts and gas.
Thanks very much for pointing it out, it’s fixed now.
These things are everywhere around here Reflects Carats Glanzas theres one for every wallet, the diesel may surprise you at how fast it will get you there they will do the speed limit and steer as well as any other, they just dont use any fuel doing so, Nothing particularly modern about the Ka with its 59 Anglia engine and oddball styling, those are fast disappearing from the roads.
Bryce, I LOVE the fact that the Ka had the old Escort/Anglia engine. Combine that with the Mini-like handling and good seats and you’ve got a fun little car.
The Ford Ka was a go-kart ! Together with the contemporary first gen Focus it started Ford’s reputation of building cars with excellent handling.
The Ka got the 1.6 RoCAM engine in some parts of LATAM. Quick little thing it was.
There must have been something wrong with the one I rented it steered ok but I wouldnt have called it fast.
The Ka’s engine wasn’t exactly the ’59 Anglia engine, although it was a descendant. The Anglia engine begot the cross-flow Kent, which begot the three-bearing wedge-head Valencia used in Mk1 and Mk2 Fiestas, which begot the five-bearing 1.3-liter first seen in the 1987 UK-market Escort. The latter was the engine used in the Ka — it’s similar in displacement to the old 1.3-liter Kent, but has a 74mm rather than 81mm bore.
Er, begat. But you see what I mean.
The parts like fuel injection will swap onto a Kent, Im told. apparently they are very closely related but I hevent seen a KA in quite a while the new Starlet seems to be the Aqua and they are everywhere like a plague both in straight petrol and hybrid flavours,
I drove a loaner Vitz/Yaris recently 400,000kms on the odo and for a cheap puddle jumper it went ok steered ok not particularly uncomfortable and for a city runabout just what you need.
I really wanted a 1997 Starlet as a commuter car because I drove 90km a day, 5 days a week. Then I saw one that had been in a fatal crash and realised the passive safety is…..lacking. No thanks.
The Sera is a cute little car. I’ve seen a couple around here.
The intake manifold in that engine is lovely.
I was never impressed with the Starlet. The Swift always looked better, and anything European was probably better. The 206 and Clio come to my mind.
The dash photo looks strikingly similar to the US model Chevrolet Prizm from 1998-02. I wonder if the same mold was used for both?
Don’t think so. The Starlet dash is hard plastic. I would think the Prizm, being closely related to the Corolla, would have a soft touch one. 98-02 Corollas had one, IIRC.
The first gen Yaris was quite a revolution, it looked very un-Toyota in the late nineties. Commercially very successful too. The last gen Starlet didn’t do very well in the sales charts.
Competition was fierce, as it had to face cars like the Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa, Volkswagen Polo and Peugeot 205 / 206. The Ford Ka and Peugeot 106 were not in the same segment, these were smaller than the contemporary Starlet.
Here’s the little legendary light, spartan, great fun, screaming and cheap Peugeot 106 Rallye from the nineties.
Here in ‘merica we commute in 15mpg full size Suvs or f350 diesels. We are too good to drive a basic car.
I’m going to drive my truck to McDonald’s now and get a quadruple stack burger and a diet coke. My beetus is flaring up.
There is the Mitsubishi Mirage.
Don’t diss the Yaris, at least in driving terms – it’s amazing what a stick and 44 PSI at all corners on the OE tires will do for an “uninspiring” car, at least if you subscribe to the theory that it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car at two-tenths.
That being said I found that out on an ’08 model bought new, and the newer ones simply aren’t improved enough to make a trade worthwhile. Saving up for a Fiesta ST it is, then.
Folks think that the Probe name is terrible…..I could never bring myself to say I own a Glanza (as the name makes me think of the male sex organ).
I actually like the Yaris (aside from that name), at least the 1st generation. But Toyota seems to insist on making cars without a soul and/or any trace of fun. In the U.S. Toyota brings out an “S” model Yaris…..as a sedan. Toyota, 99% of the world’s car makers know that a 3 door (or even a 5 door) hatch is supposed to be THE basis for Sport models.
A Starlet Carat? VW also used that name but didn’t put a faux BMW or Rover (?) grille on their Carat.
Toyota usually keeps model names going indefinitely but apparently even Toyota realized that the Starlet name was carrying too much “baggage”.
The first and second gen Yaris were available as hot hatches, the TS models. Well, not exactly hot. Lukewarm, at best.
This is what you wanted, 15 years ago, when looking for a B-segment hot hatch: the 172 hp Renault Clio RS 2.0 16v. It’s a cold fact that the French build (and built) the best B-segment hot hatches. Both Renault and Peugeot.
The Toyota version have GO down pat, but at speed should you want to steer get the Peugeot actually get the turbo diesel Pug and really have fun on your commute on nearly zero fuel.
“In the U.S. Toyota brings out an “S” model Yaris…..as a sedan.”
There was an S hatch also, it just wasn’t nearly as popular:
This was the first gen Yaris T-Sport. It had a 106 hp 1.5 liter engine.
The original Yaris/Echo/Vitz which were already 22 years old. Its hard to fathom how those 22 years came so quickly.
I have no recollection of this generation of Starlet at all. I remember the first one vaguely.
My brother in law traded his 1970 Buick Skylark for a Gen 1 Toyota Starlet. I’m guessing mid eighties. Now I would have encouraged him to keep the Buick, and now I think about it, I think he junkyarded it, rather than having gotten anything for it. In any event, that little Toyota was solid as a rock. He drove it on vacation to the East Coast, and it was his daily driver around town here. Of all the cars I remember he had, this Toyota was probably his best car ever for reliability. His list would have included an Aerostar, a Civic, a Vega, an Aries, an International SUV of some kind, a mid eighties Cutlass, a Buick Rendezvouz, and others. He would take my son out in the starlet when he was small, for rides and ice creams. I’m certain he never washed it, ever. Great car.
I note the 700EAD Queensland rego on the blue car. My (previously my mother’s) 1997 Starlet was 155ESF. It was white, three door, three (Three! In 1997!) speed auto with AC but no PS. And obviously, without ABS or air bags. Who optioned those on a base spec commuter car in 1997?
With the auto it was a real slug, my eldest brother’s 1980 KE55 Corolla 5sp would blow it into the weeds. Accelerating uphill at WOT it would up-shift from second to top at 95km/h and that was it until the road leveled out. But it was very economical. The steering was notoriously heavy on cars without power assist and my mother struggled at parking speeds to maneuver this little car on 165/70R13 tyres.
As Paul knows, little cars with short wheelbase, no overhangs and good ground clearance are surprisingly capable off-road and I once startled some people in a Nissan Patrol as I cruised passed them in my Starlet on a very rough track! And being an auto you could power-brake for traction control.
Here in the U.S. after the Mazda 2/Demio based Toyota Yaris Hatchback and Sedan was discontinued after 2020 which merely was a badge equipped of the Mazda 2 no replacements followed unfortunately. In other countries mostly in Europe, Asia and possibly Latin and South American countries these Yarises whether it was badged equipped Demios or Vios or both like in Mexico, they are still alive and well. Only the Corolla Hatchback is now the only offering for those wanting an entry level small Toyota. In Japan and Europe, both countries and continents offered the newer design Yaris based on the the new Toyota Global New Platform which underpins the current Prius Hybrid, Corolla and Camry. As a result of the new design, the Vitz name is no longer being used and all are called Yaris now.