It might need a few new valve springs. The input shaft bearing in the transmission is whining a little. There’s a wobble or two here or there. One of the camshaft lobes may be in trouble. Clunks? Plenty. We’re really hoping the clutch cable doesn’t finally give out either. The good news is that even with 230-plus thousand miles on the original 4K-C engine – there are no recalls for the 1982 Toyota Starlet! We drove the Starlet down to Toyota Santa Monica in hopes for a new old stock replacement shift knob or some other eighties-era Toyota gem, but were told that the Starlet was free of any recalls by virtue of age and durability. A quick search over at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database confirmed that the Starlet was recall free. There is no entry whatsoever for the 1982 Toyota Starlet. Not to worry. We can personally assure the NHTSA that the Starlet is mostly trouble-free, and that the 50 or so horsepower from the mighty 1300cc peanut grinder engine under the hood presents no possibility of unintended acceleration.
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[…] It might need a few new valve springs. The input shaft bearing in the transmission is whining a little. There’s a wobble or two here or there. One of the camshaft lobes may be in trouble. Clunks? Plenty. We’re really hoping the clutch cable doesn’t finally give out either. The good news is that even with 230-plus thousand miles on the original 4K-C engine – there are no recalls for the 1982 Toyota Starlet! […]
Oddly enough, I had my accelerator stick on my 78 Corolla years (and years) ago on the freeway. It caused me to accelerate slightly and approach speeds of 60 mph! Kidding aside, I turned off the ignition and coasted to the side of the road. I started it back up and it mysteriously fixed itself. That car went over 250k miles on the original engine and was absolutely amazingly reliable.
“But officer, I SWEAR it just accelerated all by itself!!”
“Calm down Mr Bumbeck. I’m not worried about your speed. You have a taillight out.”
Mike – What will it take for you to sell that to me? My first car was a CA emissions (don’t know how it made it to IL), white, 82 Starlet. I am not shitting you. 58 hp when brand new, manual choke, no power brakes, no power steering, no power period. My parents made me buy it off my sister so she could buy her first new car after college (a 1990 Sentra). I sold it to my grandpa when I went to college so he could have a second car. 50lbs of sand in the back and it was better than 4wd in the Chicagoland winters. And I ALWAYS referred to it as 1300cc not 1.3l. We used to have contests to see who could lift the rear wheels highest off the pavement. 4-5 guys could get the whole car off the ground.
I’m serious. Name your price.
The Starlet is flattered, but I could never sell her 1300cc’s of pushrod fury at any price. I do think we have to try that lifting thing as soon as possible though.
Well, the offer will stand as long as I do. If you come across another one, let me know.