Driving through an industrial district earlier today, I spotted this light green Toyota Corona Mark II. It seemed to be a bit of a project, but available information told me it was actually road legal last week, likely needing a little fettling to pass inspection. That’s most likely why it was parked next to a shop.


The Corona Mark II was a fairly large car, when you consider it was a late 1960s/early 1970s Japanese car sold in Europe. There were a great big bunch of smaller Toyotas on offer, and above the Mark II only the Crown. The Corona Mark II in fact played the Camry to the more Corolla-sized, upright and formal Corona proper, while the Corolla was far more compact in those days. By the end of the 1970s all of the cars had grown, and the Mark II was equivalent to the Chaser and Cressida.

The grille in this Mark II is missing, making headlight changing very easy, if not else. The engine in it is the 1858cc or 1,9-litre 8R engine, producing a little north of 100 horsepower – a good output for a 1000kg Japanese saloon of the era.

I would be happy to see it with a Pontiac-like beak grille as in this hardtop US-bound coupe.

The outside condition of the car is closer to a rescued, resprayed project car than something that has been run to the ground for the past 45 years. I couldn’t see much of the interior, but all in all it looks like a viable endeavour.