The Truth About Cars » 1989 Toyota Corolla

Junkyard Find: 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon

Murilee Martin — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:00:03 +0000

I now believe that at least half the Toyota All-Tracs ever sold ended up in Colorado, based on the quantities I see in junkyards around Denver. We saw the only Camry All-Trac I’ve ever found anywhere last month, and the Corolla All-Trac wagons are well-represented by this ’89, this ’89, and now today’s ’89.
Toyota didn’t go in for crazy-futuristic dashes like so many of their 1980s Japanese competitors (unlike, for example, Subaru and Mitsubishi), but the Corolla All-Trac still got this cool center-diff control panel. Yes, back in those days you had to make decisions about car four-wheel-drive while driving.
Bondo as rust repair?
213,269 miles on the clock, which is pretty good for a 1980s car.
The Toyota 4A engine family was the real workhorse of its era, going into everything from AE86s to MR2s. This one appears to be the not-particularly-hot 4A-FE.
The interior in this one is pretty nice, but the rust is bad by Colorado standards and it just wasn’t worth keeping. Next stop, crusher!

Junkyard Find: 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon

Murilee Martin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

Denver really is an alternate universe when it comes to the typical inventory in a self-service junkyard (compared to California, where my formative junkyard years were spent). You won’t find many BMW E30s or Volvo 240s, both of which inhabit California yards to the extent that they clog The Crusher’s jaws, but you will find every oddball four-wheel-drive car built in the 1970s and 1980s. I found this ’89 Corolla All-Trac wagon a couple months back and thought, “Man, these things must be a one-in-a-million find, even in Colorado!” Not so, as it turns out; at another yard maybe ten miles away, here’s one more.
I’ve always preferred the Tercel 4WD wagon, the Civic Wagovan, and— most of all— the AMC Eagle when it comes to 80s four-wheel-drive wagons, but the Corolla All-Trac has a certain flair about it.
This car seems very rusty by Denver standards (with 5% humidity most of the time, cars don’t rust much in these parts), but it turns out that this car came from a Minnesota dealership.
I’m sure true Minnesotans— like, say, my parents— wouldn’t even consider this to be real rust, but: yucko!
I’m still toying with the idea of getting some kind of four-wheel-drive winter beater (though my Nord-Frost-equipped Civic does fine in the snow, even with a Californized Wintern00b™ behind the wheel). It won’t be an All-Trac, however. BMW 325iX? Subaru Justy 4WD? Oleg Cassini Edition AMC Eagle (tell me such a thing exists)?

Junkyard Find: 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon

Murilee Martin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:00:56 +0000

You want rare? When’s the last time you saw a Corolla All-Trac, anywhere?
Colorado, where I live, is sort of a living museum of four-wheel-drive vehicles that have been forgotten in the rest of the world. The Tercel 4WD wagon is still a common sight here, along with endless IHC Scouts and every possible variety of old Subaru. Even here, however, you see about as many street-driven Packards as you do Corolla All-Trac wagons.
So, here’s this nearly complete example, with beautiful interior and no rust that I could find. It’s hard to imagine these things ever becoming sought-after collector cars, but one day we’ll realize they’re all gone.