Everyone always seems to talk about and fondly remember the rear-drive AE86 Corolla, or the hot front-drive FX16 versions, but we’re going to show this dutiful Corolla sedan some love.
I am generally not a fan of using platform jargon such as AE82 and so forth, but with certain cars such as this 5th-generation Corolla, you can’t really do without it. I counted no less than five Corolla-badged cars for sale in this period, which doesn’t even include at least two different versions of the Corolla-clone Chevy Nova.
Suffice to say that virtually every other car called a Corolla at this time was more generally interesting than the pictured plain, rectilinear small family car. This is not to say that lack of interesting qualities equates to lack of sales, as 5th-generation Corollas of all sorts in all markets sold upwards of 3.3 million units over its lifespan. That’s none to shabby by any measure, and remember that plain models like this almost always make up the bulk of sales when all versions are considered.
This front-drive Corolla featured a 1.6-liter SOHC 8-valve 90-horsepower mill which still employed a carburetor. While this engine probably never caused anyone to daydream about smooth Corolla driving bliss, it never probably caused them Corolla repair nightmares, either.
If there’s a reason Toyota can have the occasional PR disaster (if not actual disaster) like the unintended acceleration phenomenon and not be completely destroyed in the public eye, it’s millions upon millions of reliable, well-built cars like this dumpy Corolla.
The overall condition of this car was interesting to me. This car obviously lives full-time outside, as pictured. It looked fairly clean, but had mud slung around the front tires. It had cracked or broken lamp lenses, a punched trunk lock cylinder, missing badges, and numerous dents and dings. The tops of the door panels had long since dissolved. However, it had a good set of tires on it which were not worn abnormally, good wiper blades, and I got the distinct impression this car is kept mechanically very sound while spending as little as possible on anything else. If I’m right and the owner cares little about style and lots about utility, he sure picked a good car for it; this car still gets out there and plays ball no matter how ragged its uniform.
I said initially for this Capsule that we’d be showing this Corolla some love, but it doesn’t appear to have turned out that way. Maybe we’ve shown it more of a knowing head nod in its general direction, signifying that it was (and is) one of the good ones.
I don’t think it cares much what we think of it, and it certainly doesn’t have time for such trivialities. It has a job to do.
“However, it had a good set of tires on it which were not worn abnormally, good wiper blades, and I got the distinct impression this car is kept mechanically very sound while spending as little as possible on anything else.”
This was my MO on my ’96 Prizm, which I’d still have but for the rust.
I had one of these in high school – my dad bought it new in 1987. One of the greatest cars ever known to mankind. It was so reliable it wasn’t funny.
I later moved on to Volvo 240s, which were just as durable as those Corollas but nowhere near as reliable.
This model Corolla is still plentiful over here1300s 1600s autos manuals they just stay going the hot wax auto choke on some is an absolute menace and requires the entire carburetor to be replaced but other than that they just dont have many problems
Excellent little cars, many people I know have owned them, and they’ve all performed, if not faultlessly, at least respectably. You can do a timing belt on the base model in about 30 minutes or less, the base spec here had no ac, no power steer and a 2E 1300 sohc carby motor.
I owned a blue 4 door hatchback in the early 1990s. Being young and stupid, I did not do the necessary maintenance. One day driving down the road the engine just stopped. Turned out the timing belt was so old it broke. Don’t remember what I did to the car. Wish I could find another one.
I owned one almost exactly like this for a short time. Same colour even. Incredibly dull car. I decided I really didn’t want to drive it because it was so dull. They might have rated it at 90hp but felt more like 60hp.
This car and the millions of dull durable dependable Corollas like it are why Toyota and Corolla are names that receive such great respect. They have a lot to be proud of.
I test drove one of these between test driving and buying my Jetta in 1990. It certainly didn’t feel like it had 90 hp, considering the Jetta had 85 hp and felt considerably stronger. These were superbly reliable and durable cars built with precision and less cardboard in the interior than the Jetta, but I found it utterly devoid of enthusiasm. The gas pedal was more like a toggle switch, but the engine lacked the torque to actually respond to being at wide open throttle any time it wasn’t at idle. The steering wheel was a hard plastic ring with a big plastic box at its center. Nothing felt particularly substantial, no matter how long-lasting it would prove to be. I actually enjoyed driving my Jetta, and almost everything you touched felt better, although the mechanical feeling shifter of the Toyota was worlds better than the sloppy and friction riddled cable mess of the VW. The Jetta was typical VW in its appetite for heater cores, struts, axles, shift linkages, and engine mounts, but its lack of electrical complexity generally meant I could roll start it and drive it to the shop to be fixed, even when steam was pouring out the vents and I had to drive with my head out the window to see where I was going during a cold Blacksburg winter. I’d never owned a Toyota or Honda, so regular mechanical failures seemed normal to me. Even with all the inconveniences and expenses of VW ownership, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to own a car like the Corolla. As far as I’m concerned, the supposedly downgraded Toyotas and Hondas of today have closed the gap in driving dynamics as the Germans have gotten soft and mainstream and these days I’ll take the dependability over badge worship every time.
Cars like this mean Toyota will still have a decent reputation for years to come, despite the fact that their car lineup is so uninspired and boring that Hyundais and Kias look exciting by comparison (Yes, I know about the FT-86. It’ll sell well for a couple years but then Toyota will find some way to bland it up).
This model and its year equivalent Civic can’t be any more bland or nondescript. Besides the black rubber bumpers (on all trim levels I believe), I love the basic front turn signals….like the designers went to Ikea and bought a few million pairs of ‘tern’.
As has been stated before, this is one of the many Toyotas that built their reputation.
I haven’t seen one of those in years here around Chicagoland. They really are gone from our landscape. The rust mites devoured them. I’m pretty shocked to see one with Missouri plates in such decent condition.
I never thought much about these. But upon reflection, I sort of like them. I would certainly rather have one of these than a Yaris.
No wonder the dowdy protagonist of Into the Night (1985) drove one of these: very good and very dependable, but utterly boring, just like the guy himself. Still, I wonder why the character, played by Jeff Goldblum, picked this Corolla as he had to bend over to not get stuck under the ceiling.
These are good cars but they don’t have 400 hp or soft-touch interiors so gear-heads hate them.
Yet the sell in the millions. Corollas are all about economical driving. They always have been. Right now you can put a manual Corolla out the door here in Canuckistan on the road for $15,000 taxes in. Most used cars don’t sell this cheap. It’s an an incredible value for a car that will get good fuel economy and is more reliable than your fridge.
And funny thing, most people don’t care about 400 hp, people who need a good reliable car want a Corolla.
These versions of the AE82 Toyota Corolla 4 Door Sedans were very much identical in exterior size with the 1999-05 Toyota Echo 4 Door Sedans even though both cars were produced during two different eras by Toyota.
I have the exact sedan version. Boring as it may be, but reliability has never been a doubt in this cars. My family have been owning Toyotas since the 1970s and not a single one has been giving us trouble. Only thing would be rust killing it. Highly dependable daily run about driving should suit it best not to mention give good mileage when not purge to its limit.