J.A. Ackley
J.A. Ackley Senior Editor
5/3/23 10:23 a.m.

What makes people want to go buy a Toyota Corolla–not the GR Morizo, but the no-frills 1997 model?

“My father-in-law is one who drives cars into the ground,” says the owner of the Corolla, Britt Mann. “[He asked me,] ‘What should I buy?’ I said, ‘A Corolla.’ He went out and bought a Corolla.”

Family members weren’t the only ones impressed. It …

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Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
5/3/23 12:00 p.m.

Well now I kinda want a '97 Corolla.

I bet it'd be a hoot to drive with a supercharger.

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
5/3/23 12:29 p.m.

I like it!  I guess this car is at the center of Ven diagram.

Good.  Cheap.  Fun.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter)
Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) Dork
5/3/23 12:31 p.m.

I absolutely love my Corolla. One of my favoritist cars I've ever owned. 
 

calteg
calteg SuperDork
5/3/23 2:36 p.m.

I liked them so much, I owned three during my 20's! Every single one got around 32mpg, no matter how I drove it. Every single one started consuming a little oil around 200k. Great little appliances, back when you could actually find $5000 cars on CL

Tyler H
Tyler H GRM+ Memberand UberDork
5/3/23 3:35 p.m.

When I first met my wife (in 1997,) she had a 1994 Corolla.  Naturally, I became the caretaker of it.  It was a fantastic car and lasted us for years.  It was rugged and somehow managed not to feel cheap.

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UberDork
5/3/23 3:56 p.m.

A friend of mine pulled one out of a field, fixed a couple things, and just did his first track day. Automatic trans, all season tires, and a big smile on his face.

Tom1200
Tom1200 UberDork
5/3/23 4:02 p.m.

They're highly thrashable cars..............what's not to love.

Lof8 - Andy
Lof8 - Andy GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
5/3/23 4:30 p.m.

I've raced this thing (at the Lemons race)!  The secret is throw it into the corner about 80% harder than you think you should.  It'll stick!

Bugweiser74
Bugweiser74 GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/3/23 5:07 p.m.

AWESOME!!!!...... yup this is my car and I put it together, however......... big thanks to my wife and the BAR racing team that races the car, without them this would not be possible. 
 

if you guys are reading this thank you again from the bottom of my heart 

Something about the design of the chassis makes these handle really well for a 4 door sedan. I bought mine new in 2001 with the manual transmission. I raced local autocross for 4 years in H Stock and took two first place regional champ trophies due to that car. It certainly wasn't due to my mediocre racing skills. 233,000 miles later and it still sits in my driveway and starts and goes anytime I need it. when the model year 2000 corolla added VVTI it went a long way to fix the previous engines issues with running out of steam at higher rpms. I always thought it was a shame they didn't add the 2zz and 6 speed to the car until the next gen jelly bean.

Masterdebator
Masterdebator New Reader
5/5/23 1:02 a.m.

Toyota put a BEAMS engine in these and called it the TRD2000. Amazing concoction and one I dream of building myself. 

The_Jed
The_Jed PowerDork
7/1/23 12:10 a.m.

Aaaaaaaand now I want a Corolla...

DeadSkunk  (Warren)
DeadSkunk (Warren) UltimaDork
7/1/23 8:21 a.m.
The_Jed said:

Aaaaaaaand now I want a Corolla...

LOL, I was looking all day yesterday myself.

APEowner
APEowner GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
7/1/23 8:44 a.m.

My Mom had one that was eventually passed down to my kid brother.  Between the two of them they wrecked it three times and put a little over 350k miles on it.  Other than collision repair parts the only parts I ever put on it were brakes.  When my kid brother traded it in on a RAV4 it still had the original clutch.

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