The mid-1980s Toyota Corolla remains my favorite Corolla of all, as it combined the airy-glasshoused five-door version seen here, the rear wheel drive AE86 variants that were to become cult cars later on, the three-door hot hatch FX, and the previous-generation wagon that was dressed with a more modern look to survive until 1987.
Later Corollas were more rounded and more boring, but the five-door “Liftback” was a sharp box on wheels that found its way onto our driveway as well. There had to be a reason why I’d name it as my favorite, wouldn’t there?


The brochure car here bears “ZX EFI” badges, so it has the 1.6-litre 4A engine in fuel-injected guise, most likely in eight-valve SOHC configuration. If it were DOHC, there would be enormous decals on it celebrating the fact.

But what’s awesome is this interior shot: it shows you the Corolla was available with a space-age digital gauge cluster.

I’m not a fan of the striped upholstery, but otherwise the yellow Corolla would earn a place in my fleet any time.