1979 Toyota Corona XT-130 review from Australia and New Zealand

Main Nylon-Fibre Timing Gear tends to fail at around 60-80,000km, can be replaced with noisier steel type.

The TOYOTA 1X (Starfire) engine is a robust but mechanically noisy little engine, with its Holden roots going back to 1963, then back to 1940s.

The engine starts to seep oil on most main seals and gaskets by 60,000km, so regular degrease is good idea.

This CORONA CS XT130W WAGON has air conditioning and is at 540,000km at 80,000km into engine N0.3.

The TOYOTA 1X (Starfire), combined with a great little 4-speed BorgWarner gearbox with the bottom ratios matched to the engines good torque and mid-range, makes this a very driveable vehicle in traffic and off the mark. The engine / gearbox combination gets the most out of those nearly 80kw. This vehicle is a happy 100-120km cruiser, but is NOT a high speed performer. A fifth gear might have helped with cruise backed by a lower fourth gear. Gears 1 - 3 are in exactly the right place for the diff /eng combination.

With the suspension well maintained, it handles surprisingly well. We have replaced the front seats, given the kms. It is garaged, with good external finish.