Adventures In Marketing: 1970 Toyota Corona Beats Green Monster Jet Car In Drag Race
Since my first car was a 1969 Toyota Corona sedan, I always look for these cars in junkyards. I toy with the idea of getting another first-gen Corona sedan someday, into which I will swap a 1UZ-FE engine out of a Lexus LS400, so of course I check the internetz for old Corona ads. Here’s a good one!
Yes, the ’70 Corona sedan beats the mighty F-104-engined Green Monster LSR car in all categories, including a 98-yard drag race (in which the Corona gets about a 95-yard head start). As for trunk space and ease of parking… well, you’re better off with a Corona than a jet dragster any day!
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.
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There are still a few of these puttering around So. Cal. When fitted with the optional AC , the glove box door was removed & replaced with three round vents . I rather like the Coupe version but IIRC the '69's had the terrible 3RB engine made (apparently) of balsa wood . -Nate
i may have drove one of these corona briefly one summer, it was owned by my bro, nice little car. It may have a 2 spd toyo-glide tranny. correct me if wong.