Want a brand-new E20 Toyota Corolla that has sat untouched since 1974? It’s there for the taking. All you have to do is sneak it out of the demilitarized zone on the island nation of Cyprus.
UN Peacekeepers are documenting Nicosia, Cyprus, a city that lies in the 134-square-mile United Nations buffer zone. It was set up 37 years ago during a period of intense fighting between Cyprus’s Greek and Turkish inhabitants. When the UN stepped in, residents had to abandon homes and businesses with little warning. The result is a dusty time capsule town frozen for nearly four decades.
Among the ruins is a local Toyota showroom housing a pair of second-gen Corollas. According to Corporal Kevin Roberts:
“There’s a Toyota Corolla 1974 which has 38 miles on the clock. When you open the doors you get hit with a fresh smell of untouched leather and the plastic wrapping remains on the inside of the doors. It’s a bit spooky.”
Circle of life moment: The UN soldiers are combing the region in Toyota Land Cruiser Prados.
I;d live ti get my hands on that
risk life and limb for a survivor nostalgic?
hell yes.
Now…
Where did I leave those keys?
probably someone schould get t here and pick it up?? it may be a bit risky, ok.. sad.. but at least it proably will stay like this for another few years 🙂
There are more in Varosha 😉
http://files.cidadesabandonadas.webnode.com.br/200000019-4813a490d2/varosha-12.jpg
Can we get a JNC correspondent to go in and take better pictures of the dealership and of the DMZ? I’ll volunteer.
Too bad that Southwest does not go to Cyprus.
These two are the tip of the iceberg. It’s been documented on other forums, but the basement of the Ledra Palace Hotel is home to a whole cache of ’74 Toyotas that were brand new/unregistered at the time. They include Celicas, Crowns and Crown Coupes.
Link?
BAM! I never saw these pics before, but they came up in a Google image search for “famagusta toyota cyprus”.
http://www.4tforum.gr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=29604&start=660#p2151236
There are some Mark II’s and you can even see a brand new very early E30 Corolla in the back!
All I have to say is AWESOME. That one room would be worth the long ass flight.
Image source linked from the forum post:
http://www.urban-travel.org/greenline/
I’ll take the gold colored one please.
‘When you open the doors you get hit with a fresh smell of untouched leather’
It would be vinyl not leather.
Check it out:
http://www.urban-travel.org/greenline/
Were those cars measured in miles or kilometers? Either way, it’s still less than what the Toyota company has in their storage vault.
The odometer is in Miles but RHD typical of a british colony. The 38 miles are on the ododmeter of the Celica not the Corolla . Look at the oval shaped housing full instrumentation and imitation woodgrain.
Oops didn’t see the upper pic from the corolla, has the same distance, I was talking about this pic:
http://www.tocyprus.net/urban/www/greenline/p_nic24.jpg
Probably the distance from the port to the storage where they are.