Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an exceptional find of a
very rare original southern California 1968 Toyota Corona 2 door
hardtop. The Toyota Corona played a key role in the companies North
American success story, having previously entered the North
American passenger car market in 1957 as a 'Toyopet', the company
re-entered the North American market in June 1964, rebranding
itself as 'Toyota' and introducing its third-generation Corona,
with more modern technology and numerous standard features. The car
sold well, winning the 1969 'Road Test' Import Car of the Year,
helping the company become the third-best-selling import brand in
the United States by 1967. In 2014, the editors at 'Car amp;
Driver' called the Corona one of the best Toyota's ever made,
stating that Toyota survived long enough to thrive in America only
because of the Corona model. By 1968, the Corona name was used on a
larger platform, marketed as the Mark II and the Corona itself was
marketed under a numerous nameplates worldwide, including in
several markets including European markets as 'Carina's'.The Corona
was ultimately replaced in Americas by the 'Camry. The nameplate
Corona derives itself from the Latin word for "Crown". Toyota
released in September 1968 larger model called the Corona Mark II.
It was a slightly larger vehicle than the Corona with a higher
level of equipment offered at the time, sharing some of the
features of the larger Crown, but taking the top-of-the-line
position. One of the most appealing Japanese cars ever produced,
unfortunately they have largely disappeared from the roads almost
entirely due to insurmountable rust issues of all the early
Japanese cars from this era, and being a southern California owned
model since new, makes it all the more rare and unusual in its
completely rust and accident free and also its rare all original
stock condition!This is a superb surviving example, owned since new
by only obviously very careful southern California owners, the car
has obviously also always been garaged with no accidents and no
rust and boasts its original spare wheel, jack and tools and
owner's manuals. The car has very nice original paint and the car
has it's original factory interior which is also in remarkably good
condition throughout. The 1879 cc 4 cyl engine is extremely strong
for this car and the transmission shifts smoothly through all the
gears.