Junkyard Find: 1983 Toyota Corolla Deluxe Wagon
Until the 1984 model year, every new Corolla sold in the United States used a rear-wheel-drive configuration. Today's Junkyard Find is an AE72 Corolla station wagon, from the final model year of its generation sold here, found in a car graveyard in John Steinbeck's hometown.
Not only was 1983 the final model year for the E70 Corolla in the United States, it was the last model year for Corolla wagons here until the AE95 wagon went on sale here as a 1988 model.
Presumably, the longroof versions of the smaller-than-Corolla Tercel and larger-than-Corolla Cressida were considered sufficient for American Toyota shoppers for the 1984-1987 period.
The 1980-1982 E70 Corollas sold in the United States were powered by the poky-but-reliable 1.8-liter pushrod 3T engine, but the '83s got the far more modern 1.6-liter SOHC 4A engine.
This carbureted 4A-C was rated at 74 horsepower.
It's tough to make out the text on the underhood emissions sticker, but it shows us that this Corolla was sold new as a California-market vehicle.
While a couple of the cheaper US-market 1983 Corolla models had four-speed manuals as their base transmissions, all the new Corolla wagons that year got a five-speed manual with overdrive top gear as standard equipment. If you wanted your '83 Corolla wagon with a three-speed automatic, the cost went up three hundred bucks (about 931 bucks in 2023 dollars).
The MSRP for this car was $6,508, which comes to about $20,187 in today's money.
The Nissan Sentra wagon, which debuted here as a 1982 model, listed at $6,649 ($20,624 now) for 1983. The 1983 Honda Civic wagon cost $6,369 ($19,694 today).
Cars that live near the ocean in California often develop this sort of top-down rust around seams and glass.
In any place where salty fog tended to collect, there is corrosion. I've seen some real Toyota rust horror stories in coastal California, but these cars dissolved into nothingness much more quickly in places like Maine and Minnesota.
176,100 miles on the odometer at the end.
No air conditioning (which would have been actuated via a switch where there's a block-off plate to the right of the heat/vent controls), but someone installed a mid-1980s Proton AM/FM/cassette unit with Schotz noise reduction. Even just a simple AM-only radio would have been a $110 option with this car ($341 in 2023 money).
There was a time, 30 years ago, when these aftermarket EQ amplifiers were snatched up instantly by the first junkyard shoppers to find them.
It has a new engine that gets 18 percent better fuel economy!
Wow! Corolla!
[Images: The Author]
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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, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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I used to own a 1981 Corolla Coupe with the 1.8 hemi engine and a 5 speed. My little pocket rocket until I crashed in the Wilson tunnel in Hawaii.
When I met my now wife, she was driving a hand-me-down '84 Corolla Deluxe Liftback with a 3-speed Automatic. It was filthy, inside and out, never maintained and had been her college beater and now her first job out of college ride. I named the car "Rodney", as it certainly got "No Respect". It served her faithfully through several jobs a couple moved across Florida and into a job that paid enough to consider an upgrade. On one of her moves, Tampa to Ft Lauderdale, I drove over in my company 6000STE to assist with the ove. Being the chivalrous type, I put her in the loaded up with stuff Pontiac, threw the rest in the back of Rodney and set out for South Florida. Stopping for gas before the interstate, I checked the oil and... there was none. I poured in 3 quarts of cheap convenience store brand 30 Weight, said a prayer and hit the road. The A/C had long ago given up the ghost and the broker radio antenna got no reception once out of Tampa. Rodney and I hummed along SR 60, passing the Publix trucks on the 2 lanes and hanging a right onto the Florida Autobahn, the Turnpike. We maintained a 75 mph pace, hanging out with the windows down and perspiring profusely on the black vinyl seats. I arrive at her new Apartment about 45 minutes behind her, with a new appreciation for Rodney. About a year later, a generous Ford dealer offered $1500 for the whipped Toyota on trade for a new Probe LX. The Probe was a great car with powerful A/C and futuristic looks, but I still miss that honest old Toyota and wish we'd kept Rodney around.