I'll admit it, I have a soft spot for Coronas of this era because a $50 '69 Corona sedan was my very first car. And, since we saw a Nice Price Or Crack Pipe Corona just yesterday, I'm inspired to share these photos today. With a tippy suspension apparently copied from the '62 Ford Falcon and a clattery-yet-unkillable pushrod 3R engine, the early Corona didn't really foreshadow much about the slick Toyotas to come.

I spotted this racy-looking beater parked outside a party I attended in the Oakland Hills a few weeks back; these days, I find myself around Alfa Romeo obsessos on a regular basis (24 Hours Of LeMons HQ is crawling with 'em), and of course it turned out that this fine vintage Japanese machine is owned by a guy who drives it when the Giulietta isn't working.

Yesterday, you all thought that fat wasn't phat, and gave the rolly-polly Pacer a stinging 83% Crack Pipe rebuke for its $7,000 price tag. Today, we've got another orange car to contemplate. It's transplant Friday, and we're going to crack open a Corona.

Introduced in 1964, the RT40 - or shovel nose - Corona was the first car to make Toyota a serious competitor in the global car market. Available in coupe, sedan and wagon models, the squared-off mid-sizer provided a lot of content in a reliable and fugal package. Its R4 four cylinder put out an adequate 90 horsepower, and the available toyoglide meant either you didn't have to row your own, or that intimate moments could be made more enjoyable.

This '69 has neither of those, but your intimate moments with it may be pretty enjoyable, none the less. For your $3,000 you're getting a drivetrain from Hiroshima rather than Aichi, and the engine doesn't reciprocate, instead it goes hummmmmmm.

The Mazda 13b is the most common rotary engine in the world. Its tiny 1308 displacement belies the power it is capable of producing, and was employed in Mazda's largish cars- the RX5, Cosmo, and the Porsche-chasing RX7. Dropped into this Corona, it has a lot less metal to move as the car has a curb weight of about 2,100 lbs. The Mazda 5-speed and RX5 wheels enhance the gender change from lady toyota to macho mazda, with the only weak link appearing to be the delicate rearend. But isn't that always the case?

The car has a number of other modifications that may or may not increase your valuation of the beast. The gutted interior, acura seats, and lack of side glass will either appeal to your sense of speed over comfort, or may make you think it's just a half-assed weekend hooner.

So what do you think about a hummer and a corona? Is that a combo worth $3,000? Or is the seller a couple bottles shy of a six-pack for asking that?

You decide!

Los Angeles lista de los craigs, or go aqui if the ad desaparece.

Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.

Putting a Detroit pushrod V8 into a Mazda RX-7 is a pretty common swap, and there are some really nice ones out there. Sure, the new engine weighs about 16 tons more than the original rotary did, but it also makes approximately 16,000 times as much torque. The Ford small-block is the preferred engine for such swaps, since it's smaller and lighter than its Chevy and Chrysler counterparts, but sometimes you see such a great deal on a used engine that you have no choice but to buy it. We're pretty sure that's what happened with this '87 Mazda RX-7 (go here if the ad disappears), which has a Chevy L98 engine and 700R4 already installed. All you need to do is get a radiator and driveshaft and, you know, a few other minor details. Should be easy! You get a Painless wiring harness (though we see what looks like painful clusters of sliced wires a-dangling) and an "ECU for 350," and the whole deal is a mere two grand!Thanks to Radiohound for the tip.

An L98 RX-7 would be pretty quick, but wouldn't you prefer to go vintage if you're going to drive an engine-upgraded Japanese car? We couldn't find a Toyopet with Cadillac 500 engine, but how about a late-60s Corona with a lightweight, high-revving Nissan V6? Not only that, how about one for less than half the price of the V8 RX-7? It seems hard to believe, but this 1968 Toyota Corona with Nissan 3.0 V6 engine (go here if the ad disappears) is priced at only $900. Not even four figures! We don't want to hear any complaints about the seller neglecting to identify what kind of 3.0 liter Nissan V6 engine got dropped into this car, not at that bargain-basement price! You get a harness (which may be from the donor car) and some "JDM headers," and the seller- apparently not believing that the car's photographs tell the whole story- adds "Project Car needs to be finished." Is there a transmission or driveshaft? We don't know. Was the engine known to be running before it was torn out by the roots and wedged into the Corona's engine compartment? Maybe. Come on, it's cheap! Thanks to LTDScott for the tip.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Oh yeah, heading from Thousand Oaks to Sonoma County in my best friend's 1968 Toyota Corona. One of its big problems was the fact that a decade earlier, leaded fuel had been outlawed. Another was hills. Still, another was that when new the puny engine spat out 90 (gross) horsepower. Nearly 30 years later, that figure was probably closer to 60 hp, if not much less. Therefor our top speed was limited. Some might say severely limited. Others might say that 50 mph downhill is fine. I would routinely make the 453 mile drive in the first generation Lieberwagon ('85 Pontiac Parisienne Safari station wagon) in a about 5 hours. In the Corona, double that. Then add 8.

You math whizzes are probably thinking to yourselves, "Wait a minute — even if they were only moving at 45 mph, that would only have taken 'em 10 hours." Right, the other 8 were spent overheating. It's one of two times I've ever seen my best friend get angry. The other involved unwanted pregnancy. Lots of roof punching. Trust me, it was bad. You?

From Team Japan, we have this 1969 Toyota Corona. Here's a car dear to my own heart; my Very First Car- purchased for $50 at the age of 15- was a beige '69 Corona 4-door (in fact, this could be that very car!). I can say from experience that the early Corona is slow, ugly, and handles like a refrigerator on a handtruck with bad wheel bearings, but it's got heavy-duty character; in fact, there's more character in this single car than in every single vehicle in Toyota's entire 1988-2007 lineups combined. This one's "NOT RUNING" (sic), but that doesn't mean a whole lot, given that variations on its R engine were manufactured well into the 90s. Interior and body parts might be harder, but they're certainly obtainable. If you've got $950, the car is yours.


But say you want something a bit sportier, or at least a bit more technologically advanced? Der Vaterland has produced this fine 1972 Mercedes 450SEL with you in mind! (Thanks to Will for the tip). It's been parked for two years, which means that the Southern California sun/smog combo has destroyed any surviving rubber on the car, but it does run. Sorta. Whaddya want for 800 bucks? It's a pretty straight Mercedes, buddy!

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Strange to imagine a time when Toyotas were considered quirky-yet-sensible little vehicles, rather than the relentlessly staid competition-annihilators they are today. Straddling the period between the "aren't these Toyopets cute?" era and the "why the hell should I buy a Cavalier?" era, the Corona was sold on these shores from 1964 through 1982 (and well beyond that in Australia, where Toyota shoppers were fortunate enough to have a Corona ute version to purchase). The site below has a nice selection of Coronas to view, including some interesting right-hand drive models. – Murilee Martin

Welcome To Corona Country [turbocreations.com]

Related:
New York Times Acknowledges Hipness Of Old Toyotas, I Only Had a Corona...mino [internal]

While we're not huge fans of vehicle confiscation, Mr. Terrence Lord of Gisborne, Australia makes a good case for the authorities. His 1980 Toyota Corona was seized after he'd been caught driving drunk on four occasions, including once blowing a 0.15. He'll also be rightly jailed for 15 months and disqualified from driving for four years. Next week, another hoon will be trying to save his 1996 Ford XR6 from going to the auction block. For those who've lost their driving privileges may we suggest the "I am the Hoon of the Day" shirt from the Gawker Store? It's what all the felon hoons are wearing these days.– Matt Hardigree

Hoon Loses Car For Good [Herald Sun]

Related:
Hoon Of The Day: Cah Jumping In Massachusetts [Internal]

Sure, old-school date-code-worshiping car collectors think Toyotas are a snore- you know, if it runs, it's not collectible (plus the stolid rep of Toyota's current lineup doesn't exactly help). But the Gray Lady did some digging and found that a younger generation of car freaks has discovered the cars of Toyota's early forays into the North American market. An 8,000-mile '66 Corona just sold for $16,740 at auction, and that price may seem steal-esque in the years to come. Be sure to check out the nice slideshow in the article: 2000GT sighting ahoy! – Murilee Martin

New-Generation Collectors Give Toyota Some Respect [New York Times]

Related:
All Toyotafest to Celebrate Toyota 50th Anniversary [internal]