Kidney, Anyone? 1958 Toyota Corona on YJA

1958_toyota_t10_corona
Chances are, when you think of Toyota Corona, one of these pops into your head. It’s the first model Toyota designed specifically to suit US tastes and what really got the company moving in the US market. Or you might recall the Toyota Tiara, the USDM name for the Corona of the previous generation.

But here’s one that people have rarely ever seen, even those in Japan – a first-generation 1958 Toyopet Corona – and it’s for sale at Yahoo Japan Auctions. It has about 50,000 miles on it and the seller claims the littlest spot of rust. Granted, it’s not the prettiest thing, but it’s one hell of a rarity. As Indiana Jones would say, “It belongs in a museum!” And look at the pic below the jump; it actually runs! 1958_toyota_t10_corona2
The going price is about $13,800 with no bids.

Thanks to toyotageek for the tip!

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13 Responses to Kidney, Anyone? 1958 Toyota Corona on YJA

  1. Kimico says:

    That is a nice piece of history. The car does deserve to be in a museum.

  2. toyotageek says:

    Outside of the Toyota Museum, this is the only other example I’ve ever seen or heard of. Not to say more don’t exist, but in all my searching and looking at pix from numerous car shows in Japan, I’ve never seen another.

    Another case of “I need money I ain’t got”

    btw, the original auction ended and it’s been relisted… hmmm, what’s a kidney worth these days? lol

  3. tom says:

    I just noticed the hole in the front for a crank to start it if the battery is dead.

  4. blue72 says:

    I had the chance to buy one of these last year, ’58 Corona. The guy wanted $800 for it, and said the motor had been rebuilt, ran great, interior all there and no major rust. Unfortunately I couldn’t get him on the phone when I was in the city he was in, and probably missed out on it.

    I would have loved trying to coax it up to its 55 mph top speed on the way home.

  5. Ben says:

    Hear that, toyotageek? $800!

    Which part of the world are you from, blue72?

  6. blue72 says:

    Hmmm… not sure if I should say now. I’m now considering calling the local classified publication to see if they keep some sort of an archive of past ads to try and get this guy’s number again. I’d love to roll into JCCS in a Toyopet.
    I will say that it was around the 4th of July weekend last year, and the one time I did speak to the guy he didn’t speak the greatest English, but by the description of the car I decided to call him later in the day to arrange a test drive, but neither he nor his wife answered. Because of his accent I had written down his address incorrectly. I tried the number when I was back in town about two weeks later, but still no answer.

  7. toyotageek says:

    Double hmmm… You sure it was a 58, and not a 68? This model was never officially or even unofficially, imported into the United States (at least by Toyota). Years ago there were unconfirmed rumors of a first gen Corona somewhere in the US, so it’s possible, but not very likely.

  8. blue72 says:

    That’s the deal, I never got to see it in person. It was advertised as in the classified as a 1958, and that’s what the owner told me over the phone as well. He even said he had the title to it. Since I never saw it for myself I can’t tell you if it indeed was a T-10, or if it was a mis-labeled T-40. More investigation is pending to see if I can find that phone number again somehow.

  9. Ben says:

    Good luck, blue72. Keep us posted. I’d love to see it in person and of course feature it in JNC magazine!

  10. blue72 says:

    I called the classified agency today. It took quite a bit of searching, but the kind lady on the other end of the phone finally found the ad in a back issue, and under the Spanish section (it probably ran in both English and Spanish sections). I apparently had confused a detail or two. The ad was for a 1959 Corona Classic 4cyl, $850. She couldn’t interpret much else for me from the Spanish. I got all excited when she gave me the phone number too. I just barely tried calling the number, but heard “The subscriber you have dialed is not in service.” Crap, now I’ve got to find out if the guy is really out of cell range, or if that means the number has been disconnected.

  11. Toyotageek says:

    Cool! If you can track it down, it might be the Toyota Barn find of the Century! 🙂 Keep us posted!

  12. Kool story hopefully this one will be found. Thanks For sharing this with us.

    Jean – Louis Dehoux ( Frenchy )

  13. blue72 says:

    Well, it looks like the trail has gone dead. I was going to be visiting the city of the fabled Toyopet today so I dug out the paper I had written the phone number on.

    When I called my heart sank a little as a ring-back tone played at me. The woman who did answer the phone assured me that she didn’t happen to have any 50 year old Japanese cars for sale and agreed that the number must have changed hands.

    As is, I’ll keep a lookout for it to reappear in the classifieds, but from all appearances this one got away for now.

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