Because the mighty Starlet often gets mistaken for a Tercel, we bring you this first generation Toyota Corolla Tercel sedan. Not one but two generations of Tercel were sold alongside the Starlet’s four short years in the USA, with the second generation three-door hatchback version appearing to be the primary source of model confusion. The Starlet is not a Tercel for many reasons, the single most important of which is the Starlet employs rear-wheel drive for propulsion. This is important. As Hamilton said to Spicoli and pals in Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Learn it. Know it. Live it. Starlet.
The first generation Tercels were unique among front drivers, as the 60-or-so horsepower engines were mounted longitudinally like in a rear driver or Renault Le Car. The transmission sat behind the engine with a differential incorporated in front to spin half-shafts to the front wheels. This particular Tercel looks as if it had been re-purposed from an economical sedan into a storage shed for discarded auto parts and vintage cleaning solutions. While the graphics package holds onto the seventies while moving into the eighties, it wasn’t enough for the first-gen Tercel, which was replaced by the angular eighties second generation version in 1982.
I’ve owed two first-gen Tercels. A beat-to-death 1980 SR-5 hatchback, and a 1982 notchback. Hated the hatch, but the little red notchback was pretty much indestructible and lot of fun.
Every now and then, I see one of these tooling around on my way to school. It still shocks me that anything 30 years old (never mind a classic Toyota) lasted this long untouched by the Southern Ontario rust monster.