By Antti Kautonen
Our man in Cologne, Joe, shot this rally-prepared Corolla just sitting on a sidestreet in his neighbourhood. It’s a short walk from the Burger King where we met the Carver One guy and got a ride around town; certainly, Joe wouldn’t have minded had he been offered a ride in this Corolla too.
Any old RWD Corolla kept in good condition is sight-worthy these days, but a coupe is doubly cool. Add some motorsport heritage and ex-works provenance, and you have a real head-turner. Especially in Cologne.
Registered in Britain, bearing TEAM TOYOTA GB livery and in right-hand-drive spec, it’s not difficult to tell where the Corolla has come from. A quick sherlocking reveals some of this car’s history: it’s not a replica, but appears to be a real ex-works support car driven originally by Peter Ripley in 1980. His name is also displayed on the Corolla’s plates.
I would wager the car is at least a semi-recent resto, since 30-year-old rally cars tend to look a bit more used up by now.
The Corolla was photographed just across the street from British Motors Cologne, which specialises in restoring Brit cars to a high standard. Next door to it is the Getränke Market, which you just need to know if you want to load your car with good beer.
Just imagine seeing this rear end jettison rocks and exhaust snarl on a gravel stage. The car still partakes in retro rallying, with Charlie Gabb behind the wheel.
[Photos: Joe W]
Jeff Glucker 
Marcal Eilenstein
Cologne has been important place for Toyota's rally and other racing efforts for a long time now. I wonder if this car has anything to do with that. http://www.toyota-motorsport.com/en/f-heritage
Also, we have a international rally event 250 km from here were I should have gone, but was just too lazy. In historic class Jari-Matti Latvala is in strong lead with good old Audi Quattro which is probably from the same era as Corolla above.
<img src="http://f.pmo.ee/f/2013/07/18/1906302t100h0e3f.jpg" width="575">
It could be, especially if that's the original plate. That plate's for a car first registered in 1981, I think in Bournemouth.
The Toyota heritage museum also has the one and only road-legal Toyota GT-One.
The only sponsors a racer really needs: manufacturer, tires and a good quality 710.
I want a drink market in my neighborhood.
I've always loved that generation of Corolla, and I'd love to drive that one.
Everything about this looks so right. It's a definite shame that any interesting Corollas pre-AE85/86 are rare around here, although there's at least one local dealer that has one of the Shooting Brake Corollas in their showroom. I'd love one of those done up like this.
114% awesome! I'd love to have a car like that some day.
Something was a foot there… I think I spy a green rally Rover (it's hard to make-out) in one of the shots too.
Hi welcome found this site with pictures of my Toyota. British Motors cologne is trying to get it road legal her in Germany which is quite a challenge….
The car is original – I remember painting the underside white when i worked in Peter Ripley's garage in 1982. I also crewed for him during a number of British rallies that year. Good fun but with little success