The slogan should've been "what kind of asshole could ask for anything more?"

I'm the kind of asshole who could ask for anything more: specifically, the red 59 Caddy thy're pushing out of the way in the commercial.

I remember this model. Hyundai had launched at under 5 grand, and Toyota needed to compete.

I am pretty sure armrests, cigarette lighter, glovebox door and carpets were optional equipment. Once you got out on the freeway you realized they left out insulation, too.

I think I just threw up a little, what blaspheme. Who takes a Tarcel over a finned cadi?

The Tercel was unstoppable, but this commercial should have been put out of it's misery!

Contrary to just about all of you, I like seeing old-school import ads! It's funny seeing these cars on the street (albeit rusty, dilapidated, and generally crapped-up), but spotless and perfectly new in the ads.

First car I ever drove! My mom had a 1989 four-door DX Liftback, automatic. I did some of my stupidest hooning with that car, but it also taught me a thing or two about driving in the winter. The vision outside the car was great. I never even remotely came close to hitting something solid with that car, despite the fact I drove it like an idiot (I'm smarter now, thank you).

I could ask for a passenger side mirror...

an '87? uh too fancy! reminds me, a girl at school told me she like old cars. Nothing dropped when told I drove a nine...teen...eighty...three...Toyota...Tercel. Ran OK when I finally let go him go at 200k+, the A/C didn't work the windows didn't roll down and the clutch pedal was glued together, but what really bummed me out was getting wet when it rained.

Once i saw the poodle skirts it hit me, i remember this ad!

Sick!

Sounds a bit like they're singing;

"It's so easy to want to sell"

E.g. What the hell have I done? Pangs of buyers remorse

A friend of mine had a hatch exactly like the one in the ad - in 2001 no less.

I'm not joking when I say it felt less sturdy and lighter than a junkyard derby soapbox I built in 1 night.

@UDMAN: Wasn't this one of those small Toyotas with poor braking? I'm not anti-Toy, I have '93 pickup as daily driver, but there were some low-end models that took a long, long way to get stopped from 60.

So, let's see... 20+ years later the finned Caddy in the commercial is worth megabucks and can be found in automotive museums, whereas the Tercels can be found enjoying a second or third life as recyled metal in the cans in my kitchen cupboard...

It took me 20 years to get that jingle out of my head. And now it's back. Curses.

And my '84 was not at ALL easy to own, what with its carbureted inability to start with temperatures below freezing and its disintegrating exoskeleton. Loved it anyway.

It's a little off-topic, but I watched one of the related videos that popped up after the end of this, a commercial for the '87 Toyota Truck. The jingle was sung by Michael Bolton, and that's clearly the point when Toyota started to be boring.

@Maymar: I just watched the truck commercial. All of the guys starring in it look a lot like 80's gay porn stars. Don't ask me how I know!!

@Charles_Barrett:

That '59 Caddy was already worth a fortune when that ad was produced, IIRC, values for the Eldorado pushed well past 100 grand by the late 80s.

That has got to be the most generic "car" ever. Yes, you get four wheels, a couple of headlights and at least one door. But color is extra.

@Sth002000: I had an '82. It never stopped or steered right. It was cheap on gas, off roaded well (heh) and the door handles fell off the outside of the car. To be fair, the doors were frozen shut and pulling on the door handles trying to get the doors open is what broke them. The frozen doors is pretty common in Michigan but that was the first time (and last) that ever happened.

It was my first car after my divorce in late '88. Oh what a feeling indeed!

At least they had one non-white person. If it wasn't for him, that would have been a really embarrassing ad.

And, "Who could ask for anything more?" Everyone who bought a Lexus.

If anyone ever questions whether Toyota ever built an terrible car... behold, the Tercel. In high school, some kids had Tercels, some had Chevettes. If we had our preference, we got a Golf. The Golfs lasted the longest then amazingly, the Chevettes. Tercels were truly crummy. A 57 Chevy versus a Toyota, yah roit!

@adidascrosscountry: I've owned a bunch of 80s and 90s Tercels, and they're far from terrible. The 87-and-later ones look boring, but they're all well-made and easy to work on.

@Novaload: Comment of the day for sure. "at least one door" sealed the deal for me.

Murilee,
I was referring to the vintage as in the commercial, which is the only model that I have that I have first-hand knowledge of. People must have loved the later ones because there sure were plenty of them around for awhile.

My '89 Tercel EZ actually had tape deck, a passenger side mirror, and rear defrost. It was dark blue, began the Midwest rust process around the fenders within a couple years of its life. But manual steering and a four-speed manual tranny, vinyl everything. Talk about bare bones transportation--you can't get anything near that basic new today. Every car after that felt fully loaded to me.

So I guess they hang backwards glowing price-tag signs in the Ukranian '50s.