1977 Toyota Corolla 1.2

Summary:

Very cheap to operate

Faults:

Spark plug wires ha ha.

General Comments:

No frills, econobox. Lots of bare metal inside car.

Gas mileage was incredible. Performance was turtle like. Manual choke worked really nice.

Fun to modify and custom. Put nice wide 60 series tires on back, which produced a nice choppy ride.

No power steering or brakes, but everything worked and was a very practical car.

Very reliable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th April, 2006

1977 Toyota Corolla DLX 1.6

Summary:

Incredible. Buy one if you can find one in good shape.

Faults:

Nothing so far, just picked it up for 1200 bucks.

General Comments:

Thing is in incredible shape. Interior is perfect. Owned by an old guy who kept in a barn for the better part of 15 years, then by a family who took great care of it, then a guy who did nothing, but drive it from Mission to Langley on the highway. He put a tach in it for all the highway use. Extremely solid car. Simple, no muss, basic electrics, very little to go wrong. I can work on it myself, and I'm not car buff. Parts are easy to come by... more of these cars were sold than any other from 1974 to 1977. Fun to drive. Retro charm. Handling is great, even with the rear-drive live axle on leaf springs. Turning circle of a unicycle. Starts first time every time. Massive headroom, seats aren't bad. Probably want to put new wheels/tires on it... the 13" pizza cutters don't really hold the road well - scary at 70mph in the wind. Very little rust... mostly surface. This summer I plan to grind it all down, prime and repaint.

The car has a least a quarter million miles left in it, easy. I'll probably own it for a couple decades, then give it to one of my kids.

Also considering dropping it a few inches... it seems a bit top-heavy. The ideal configuration would be some 15" steel wheels (so as not to look too aftermarket) with some grippy rubber.

Looking forward to a long friendship with this baby!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th February, 2006

1977 Toyota Corolla Liftback 1.6 unleaded

Summary:

A barrel of monkeys for the price of the barrel

Faults:

Wasn't running when I bought it for $175. New points fixed the problem for $6.95.

Blown clutch @ 165,000.

Constant "odd" electric problems (car would die suddenly for no reason and without warning, usually in the middle of nowhere).

Blown head gasket @ 211,097.

Headliner fell at about 190,000.

Small rust spot goes all the way through just below the windshield.

General Comments:

I put over 75,000 miles on this car in 9 months. I drove it from San Francisco to L.A. and back seven times with an average speed of 90+mph. The car never overheated, loved mountains, and will blow away any VW bus or delivery van in a race.

Girls love 'em.

This car had plenty of torque in the lower gears, but fourth was kinda weak, and at 110mph, I would've liked a fifth.

All my lady friends thought it was cute.

A.C. would have been nice (ie. Bakersfield) but would've killed performance. The sticky vinyl seats didn't help.

Extremely solid build. No squeaks or rattles. Excellent acoustics for a slammin' sound system. Corners like a dream. You just feel like you're going fast.

Did I mention girls love them?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th March, 2001

11th Jun 2005, 00:21

You know... I had a '77 liftback. Mine even had a five speed. 110 mph? Um... what can I say except that is probably wishful thinking.

I beat on mine for 100K miles, from 75 to 175K. A valve job, three clutches, and little else was needed. Had to hold it in fifth by the time I sold it, and it was JUST beginning to smoke a bit.

Girls hated it.