A story about a brown Toyota

A Toyota Corolla 1.3. Brown, rusty and slow. Hardly a recipe for a car that I will always keep.

Over the years I’ve owned a number of cars. I like trying different types of cars, so I’ve owned things ranging from a V8 BMW 7-series to a ‘94 Daihatsu Cuore and all the way to a Mazda Rx-7. There has always been this one car though, one car I couldn’t sell, one car I’d spend as much money on as needed to keep her going, one car that always made me feel good.

I bought this 1986 Toyota Corolla when I didn’t have a lot of money to spend, at the time me and my girlfriend planned a trip to France, no trip is complete without a car, and so I started searching. I was looking for something cheap and easy as I figured I’d only keep it for a few months anyway. While browsing the classifieds I found this car and quickly made up my mind, I’d go for a test drive as soon as possible.

As soon as I saw the car I knew it was everything I needed. Only one owner and never missed a service. Rusty sure, but the interior was the same as when it came from the factory. The manual transmission felt smooth and the engine was ticking away effortlessly during my first meters of driving with this car. Needless to say I bought it for the asking price.

Up until now I’ve added around 40.000 km to the odometer or 25.000 miles depending where you’re from. It’s as reliable as you would expect from a 1980’s Toyota. The 2E 1.3 4 cylinder engine is indestructible and really easy to work on. So far I’ve been able to do everything myself which is a great benefit of a simple pre-computer era car.

It is old though and rust has been silently destroying parts for years. For now I’ve been able to source parts with relative ease, and I will keep doing that to insure this Corolla will keep driving for years and years to come.

Cars are just machines, simple machines even made out of metal, plastic and rubber. Or can cars become more than that? As I said in the first line of this review, it’s hardly a recipe for fun and enjoyment but I can’t imagine ever selling my Corolla. It’s a part of me and I think I’d even feel sorry for the car if it would get scrapped. !? Why do I think that? It doesn’t even make sense, I know all that, maybe one of you here can relate, maybe not. It doesn’t even matter, this is my Corolla and that’s the end of it.

It’s an awesome car and to me it is the essence of what a car should be. Freedom and the world to explore. Next summer we’re planning to go to the North of Norway, a 2000km trip and I can’t wait.