Junkyard Find: 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon

Monday, May 26, 2014

Junkyard Find: 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon

20 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin The third-gen Corolla was the car that made Toyota in the Unites States; you saw the occasional Corona or Celica and maybe a rare Crown once in a while before the mid-70s, but the 1974-79 Corolla was the first Toyota that sold in sufficient quantity to make the marque an everyday sight on American streets. These cars rusted fast east of the Rockies and— once they got to be 15 or so years old— weren't worth fixing when they got ugly in the non-rusty parts of the country. That makes them fairly rare in junkyards today; in this series so far, we've seen this '76 Corolla liftback and this '74 Corolla two-door, and that's about it prior to today's find.
11 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Most cars don't rust much in single-digit-humidity Colorado, but these cars were very eager oxidizers.
23 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin The High Plains sun is hard on paint.
13 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin The 75-horse 2T-C engine was a sturdy, if noisy, pushrod unit.
15 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Air-conditioning was a rare option on these cars, because frugal buyers of gas-sippers didn't mind a little sweat. I'll bet it felt like someone pulling the parking brake when you activated the cold air in this car.
05 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin This looks like an aftermarket setup.
03 - 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Rear defrost! Rear wiper! Even most Country Squire owners didn't get that stuff!