Doomed 1979 Corolla Wagon Would Fit In Current Corolla's Cup Holder

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

The tiny rear-wheel-drive station wagon, killed by hatchbacks, minivans, and 64-ounce sodas, is no longer with us. Here’s a reminder of an era in which such vehicles were relevant.

The 2T-C engine in this car displaced 1,588cc and made 88 horsepower. That doesn’t sound like much, but keep in mind that this car scaled in at a mere 2,280 pounds.

Yes, it was noisy and crude and would leave nothing but a grim memory in the responding paramedics’ minds after tangling with an Excursion, but I’m still saddened to see another subcompact wagon get crushed.






Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

More by Murilee Martin

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 56 comments
  • Ponchoman49 Ponchoman49 on Jan 13, 2011

    If that were a proper sized station wagon that could hold more than 4 midgets I would be sad to see it get crushed. But a crude RWD underpowered rust to oblivion Toyota from this time period. All I can think of is not being able to make it up the slight ramp to get to the very first McDonalds drive thru during Winter with one of these owned by my friend at the time. It would barely make it up normal hills in the Summer either and passing on a two lane highway was scary. I think he only had it that one Winter and Summer when he lost his job and had to make due with a beater. Haven't seen one of these in about 20 years- no joke! His replacement 1986 Celebrity wagon felt like a race car in comparion with the 130 HP FI 2.8 and there was considerably more room and comfort to that car.

  • MyCorolla MyCorolla on Jan 24, 2011

    Well, I'm taking my 78 Toyota Corolla out of retirement. I have a carburetor related problem. When the car warms up the idle heaves back and forth. I was advised it's an idle air control valve. What part is that exactly? Can anybody advise where I can find a picture of one? The car passes smog at normal driving speed but not when idling. Also, I found a lot of carbon build up in the EGR valve, is it possible the interior of the engine as the build up as well? What type of instrument do I use to clean inside via the ports?

  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
Next