The first generation

Right from the start, Toyota expected the Corolla to be a global model and built a huge factory to produce it not only for export as a completely built-up (CBU) model but also in disassembled form (CKD) for assembly in many countries. In total, the Corolla has been sold in some 140 countries worldwide and for many generations of owners, it has been the epitome of reliability, economy and durability.

When the first generation was introduced in Japan, its population had passed the 100 million mark and economic growth was accelerating. The thinking at Toyota then was that 'people are living in nuclear families out in the suburbs, which means they'll need family cars to get around. A motorization boom is coming to Japan'.

There was great optimism that this trend was going to be a strong one and Toyota made the bold decision to build a new plant which could produce 30,000 Corollas a month - at a time when the company was producing 50,000 cars in a whole year. "In retrospect, had motorization not caught on, we would have been stuck with surplus facilities because we had built an engine plant as well as an assembly plant specially for Corolla production," recalled Eiji Toyoda, a former chairman of the company.

From the first generation, the Corolla has been designed taking into consideration the changing needs of motorists. For every Chief Engineer given the project over the years, two basic points had to be adhered to: "Corolla must be loved and appreciated by people the world over and it must continue setting new standards for automotive development".

1st Generation (KE10)
"Right from the development phase, we thought of the Corolla as a vehicle made to drive down the centre lane of the German autobahn," said T. Hasegawa, Chief Engineer for the first generation. In other words, the Corolla was intended as a rival for compact vehicles on the European market, one not just for Japan but also accepted overseas. The objectives Hasegawa set for his team were: "This car is to be aimed at the general user and it has to be a comfortable car which its owners would be proud of. It should be the type of automobile that people would want to continue driving for a long time."

The first Corolla featured a brand new K-series 4-cylinder 1.1 litre engine which was specially developed for the new model. Actually, the engine started off with a 1.0 litre displacement, the norm at that time for small cars, but at the last moment, Eiji Toyoda decided that another 10% should be added (actually it was 70 cc) to provide an extra selling point and also to provide a bit more power because the car was to be exported to places like America.

Technologically, the first Corolla was advanced for its time with a number of innovations such as a floor-mounted shifter as well as a 4-speed transmission. Items like reversing lights and 2-speed wipers - taken for granted today - were features which were rare then and the provision of a  radio, aerial, cigarette lighter, hubcaps and reclining front seats were 'unprecedented luxuries'.

Shortly after its launch in Japan in November 1966, the Corolla was already being shipped overseas with the first country being Australia. By the time the first generation ended its production run, 1.17 million units had come off the lines at the Takaoka plant.

2nd Generation (KE20)

Even early in its life, the Corolla was making a name for itself in the international rally scene

May 1970 saw the debut of the second generation, a longer, wider and lower Corolla. It offered more safety features and better comfort and handling, making long-distance driving more enjoyable.

Joining the 2-door and 4-door sedans bodystyles was a stationwagon and a coupe. Among its innovations was a 5-speed manual transmission, the first model in its class in Japan to offer the extra ratio.

During this generation, a high-performance variant also appeared. It was called the Corolla Levin (the Spanish word for 'lightning') and very quickly set new standards of performance for sportscar engines with its powerful 115-bhp twincam 1600 cc 2T-G engine. Using the same platform as the normal Corolla, the Levin made an impact in the World Rally Championship when Hannu Mikkola drove one to win the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland in 1975.

The Chief Engineer for the second generation, Shiro Sasaki, expected his model to do well but its 'gigantic sales figures' astounded everyone. "The basic philosophy behind the Corolla proved itself valid with the overwhelming popularity worldwide," he said.

Total production of this generation was 3.21 million units.

3rd Generation (KE30)
The third generation was born in April 1974, a period when the world was going through the trauma of increased fuel prices. But this was when the Corolla proved even more appealing because of its economical operation and low cost of maintenance. Furthermore, its cabin dimensions were sufficiently large to accommodate Caucasians comfortably, a plus point in Europe and the USA. While the American carmakers had to reduce output, Toyota raised Corolla output to around 2,000 units every day in 1975.

To widen its appeal, the Corolla line-up got another variant, a hatchback which Toyota termed a 'liftback'. It was sleeker than the typical hatchback and positioned more as a sporty variant.

Sporty hardtop version of the third generation

4th Generation (KE70)
It's never been explained why the model code missed '40', '50' and '60' but it could have been that the 4th generation of the Corolla made great leaps in design and quality. Fumio Agetsuma, its Chief Engineer, felt the pressure of maintaining the Corolla's success and knew that customers had great expectations. "The world was waiting for a model change and it was a change that had to be planned and executed in unsettled times, and under less than ideal market conditions. The task was frightening, to say the least," he said of the awesome challenge.

8.8 million Corollas had already been sold worldwide, making it the world's 'favourite car' and Agetsuma and his team therefore had a lot of owners' feedback to refer to. The feedback, supplemented by market studies, showed that a totally new approach was needed because the spectrum of customers had widened and higher quality was demanded, even of small cars.

The new approach saw an unprecedented level of testing, pushing safety and quality levels far higher than before and prototypes were even subjected to wind tunnel studies (which was uncommon in the late 1970s). When the model was launched in Japan in May 1979 (Malaysia towards the end of the same year), it was a winner again.

Production of this generation ran between 1979 and 1984 and cumulative production reached 12.3 million units after 17 years. In one of the years, production reached the highest ever for the model - 2,346 units daily.

This generation was first to get multivalve engines

This generation broke a lot of new ground in technology too and among the new engines available was a 1.3-litre 12-valve unit which impressed automotive engineers. Also introduced was the powerful 4A-GE twincam 16-valve engine which would become legendary in the decades to come, along with the model it powered which was the Levin AE86 (which shot to fame with the 'Initial-D' series). Up till today, this particular variant is much-desired by enthusiasts who are into the drift sport.

RWD Levin version (known as Corolla GT in Malaysia) became legendary in later years and this generation is still popular among drift sport enthusiasts

The fifth generation, with a sleeker design and more interior space, added some 3.3 million units, taking the Corolla's cumulative production figure to 15.5 million units. 98,880 units were also built at NUMMI in California, the joint-venture plant set up by Toyota and GM. For this joint-venture, Toyota supplied the design of the Corolla Sprinter sedan to GM which cloned it for sale in America as a GM product.

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