Motor Sports

The Corolla is a global vehicle, and most people think of it as the standard vehicle for the general public; however, the original Corolla was focused on being sporty. Both within Japan and overseas, there are a number of Corolla racing teams taking part in a wide range of competitions, from grand prix to rallies.

In November of 1973, at the Press on Regardless Rally in the U.S., W. Boyce won, driving a Corolla (TE20), marking Toyota's first World Rally Championship (WRC). In addition, in August of 1975 at the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Finland, H. Mikkola, driving a Corolla Levin (modified 2T-G), won the championship, marking the first European championship won by a Japanese vehicle.
The sporty Corolla Levin went on sale in Japan in March 1972. The popular AE86 (FR Corolla Levin), which is affectionately dubbed the Hachi-Roku (meaning "eight-six" in Japanese), continued to develop and evolve, becoming the AE82 (Corolla FX) and then the AE92/AE101 (FF Corolla Levin), collecting glorious domestic and international victories along the way.

In 1999, Toyota withdrew from the WRC; but it was the Corolla that provided the final flourishes to Toyota's WRC career. From 1998 to 1999, a Toyota Corolla WRC with a compact body with the high-performance powertrain of a Celica won the WRC four times; and, at the 1999 WRC, Toyota captured its third win in the Manufacturers' Championship.

Click START for a video clip. (Approx. 2 min. 40 sec., subtitles in Japanese)

* The video clip also has sound. (In Japanese)

* Macromedia Flash Player is required to view the movie files on this page.

• Global Vehicle|
• Global Data|
• Motor Sports