So at this point we’ve seen official ads featuring classic Toyotas in Japan, Colombia, the UK, and Australia. Now, three new videos have emerged Down Under featuring a trio of dedicated enthusiasts and their classic Toyotas. These include the original owner of a 1976 Celica and a girl who found a rare JDM RA35 GT Liftback in Adelaide and has owned more than 60 Toyotas.
I certainly wish Toyota would do something similar in the US, and not because I happen to own several Toyotas and want to be on the teevee. Really, I just want an immediate and permanent stop to the eye-rolling ads about dorky brothers racing Camrys in Monaco and Prius-driving bank robbers.
just so you know, it would be spelled “Colombia” not “Columbia”. Great post though.
Sorry, ignorant American spelling here. Corrected.
For better or worse Toyota does not see their North American market as one based on enthusiasm other than that for reliably boring cars.
The current state of the GT 86 in our country just amplifies that. They see a car that is not selling in Corolla like numbers and call it a market failure without understanding why it’s sales numbers are so dismal, which is all on them and not the buyer.
It’s overpriced for an “entry level” sports car, but it is definitely spec’d out as an entry level car.
A Subaru engine? Really???? That is what kept me from getting one. Nakajima builds a good car, but they are not at the quality, reliability, and refinement level of Toyota.
I was really looking for a car to fill the gap left by the first generation MR2… They came close, but no cigar this time…
I completely agree. I also hate the rumors of the new supra supposedly using a BMW engine. Conspiracy theory… Toyota doesn’t want their sport cars to succeed……
I saw an ad – maybe on youtube – for the 86, saying they were only making 8600 of them?
If that’s true, it’s kinda sad, and I’m thinking they’ll be pulling it from our market…
Suggestion to Toyota (esp. as Spring is coming): ADVERTISE THEM!
No kidding nobody’s buying them; THEY DON’T KNOW ABOUT THEM; Duh!
The 86 has no end in sight.
The supra is pure bullshit.
Well, as long as the BMW engine has Denso electrics it may have a chance.
hehe
Always so weird seeing the big bumpers with fender mirrors
not to mention in a totally different part of the world
Question about the fender mirrors: Are they remote-controlled, or do you have to get in and out of the car to -approximately- set them? The latter would be a pain…
I think I got my answer: the sport mirrors on the first one had a remote control; the ’67 had manual mirrors…
One thing with the fender-mounts that everyone goes gaga over, though: they seem to get in the way when you have to do something under the hood…
Maybe if they made cars here (U.S.) that were excitement-worthy, they could reuse the “Oh what a feeling!” campaign.
I refuse to believe 18-21-year-olds’ dream car is a COROLLA SEDAN…
Another problem with manual fender mirrors, depending on your car’s size: I have an ’84 4×4 Hilux, it’s not lifted or anything but it’s fairly tall stock, and my (junkyard aftermarket) fender mirrors always get kocked out of alignment in carparks by people squeezing between the cars and bumping into them
Given drift culture and the fact that a KE70 exists I can believe that a 18-21 year old’s dream car is a corolla sedan.
Just not from any recent manufacture.
The mirrors were mounted on the fenders because they needed to be seen through the arc of the windshield wipers. Safety, you know.
The mirrors were manual, so you either got in and out, or like me, having your dad in the car directing up,down,left,right…
Sadly, most 18 to 20 year old folks these days have no interest in the automobile.
Dire times ahead for enthusiasts I’m afraid.
Love the vids!
Dumb question though- what is up with the RA35’s 5 MPH bumpers? It’s not the first one I’ve seen, but was this a special package just for the sake of being different, or…? I’ve never understood this. They’re heinous- that’s why all of us saddled with them want them gone! I can’t fathom there was such a demand for a USDM version when the car was new… or was there?
Given that it’s not a AUDM car and that it’s a 77 they may have been mandatory in Japan at the time. Or Europe. Or NZ.
I want to know more about the Blue 2nd Gen Liftback. Reminds me of the Bluewire Automotive celica.