Random # 316: Toyota Corona Wagon

It would be easy to scoff at a car as seemingly prosaic as this late 1970s' Corona, labelling it a boring family hack and dismissing it as unworthy of classic-status. Wrong! Today's example is in excellent, apparently unrestored condition, which is no mean feat seeing it's more than forty years old, and the desirability of any given car is based on the personal experiences of those who have memories of them.

I got my licence towards the end of the shaggin' wagon era when panel vans and curtain-equipped station wagons were all the rage. My own Escort van saw zero action as a bonk-mobile but it did make a pretty handy place to sleep off boozy beach party excesses, as well as serving well as accommodation for kayaking and other outdoor expeditions, as did many of my mates' Cortina, Falcon, Mazda and Toyota station wagons.

My mate, Mark D, had a white Corona wagon almost identical to this one but slightly earlier, featuring the bonnet-lip grille and rearward bonnet vents. We fitted it with a set of driving lights behind the main grille and hung curtains so that he and his now wife had somewhere private to hold hands and think pure thoughts, as was then a common resort for seventeen and eighteen year-olds still living at home.

So, who knows what went on in some of these less-obviously classic cars? Your memories might be of family road trips and car sickness, adventures with mates or, if you were very, very fortunate, illicit hand-holding and kissing (no tongues!), all of which makes the garden-variety classic every bit as worthy as any exotic.

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

iPhone images.

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EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

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Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

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