Junkyard Find: 1988 Toyota Corolla
Because the factory-hot-rod FX-16 version of the AE82 Corolla held its value better than the non-GT-S version, you tend to see more of the FX-16s in junkyards these days. In fact, this is the first one of these I’ve seen with an 8-valve engine for several years.
These things were well-built and reliable little commuters, though something of a snooze to drive. This one nearly made it to 250,000 miles, which is more than respectable for a car of its era.
Who says American cars of the 1980s weren’t reliable? Made in California!
This one appears to be a Midwestern transplant to Denver, since cars don’t rust much in these parts.
Toyota should have partnered with Mitsubishi and/or Subaru on this car, in order to get some more futuristic dash and interior action going on.
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
Hey! That's in my local (by Colorado standards) junkyard!
This seems corolla car still looks good .. http://oemarbakries.blogspot.com/2013/11/mobil-sedan-corolla.html