The Toyota Corolla E80 is a range of small

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

s manufactured and marketed by

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

from 1983 to 1987 as the fifth generation of cars under the

Corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name *Corolla (headgear) A ''corolla'' is an ancient headdress in the form of a small circlet or crown.Toyota Sprinter The is a compact car manufactured by Toyota as a variant of the Toyota Corolla. Exclusively sold in the Japanese domestic market, the Sprinter was aimed to be sportier than its Corolla sibling, with the Sprinter being sold at the '' Toyota Auto ...

nameplates, with production totaling approximately 3.3 million, and most models adopting a

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

layout. The AE85 and

AE86 The AE86 series of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno are small, front-engine/rear-wheel-drive models within the front-engine/front-wheel-drive fifth generation Corolla (E80) range—marketed by Toyota from 1983 to 1987 in cou ...

Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno (SR-5/GT-S in US) retained

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

from the previous E70 generation, along with the three-door "liftback" (E72), three-door van (E70) and five-door wagon (E70) of the previous generation, which remained in production. The AE86 ultimately gained international prominence in the motorsport of drifting and wide popularity in Showroom Stock,

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

, and

Group N In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing 'standard' large scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specifi ...

Rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

and Club racing. In a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, mildly restyled versions of the front-wheel drive AE82 sedan and liftback were locally manufactured and sold in the United States as the

Chevrolet Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

Design

The front-wheel-drive wheelbase was now . It was the first Corolla to top the New Zealand top-ten lists, ending Ford's dominance of that market. A shorter hatchback range, called the Corolla FX in Japan and the Corolla Compact in Germany, arrived in October 1984 on the front-wheel-drive platform.'' Car Graphic: '80s Car Archives'', p. 21 The three- and five-door

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

s resembled the Corolla sedan with a truncated rear deck and trunk. Although there was a five-door liftback model of the basic Corolla, the shorter FX hatchback was sold alongside it. The Corolla FX replaced the

Toyota Starlet The is a subcompact car manufactured by Toyota from 1973 until 1999, replacing the Publica, but retaining the Publica's "P" code and generation numbering. The first generation Starlet was sold as the Publica Starlet in some markets. In Japan ...

in North America. A

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

16-valve engine, designated '' 4A-GE'', was added in 1983 on the rear-drive cars. It was a 1.6 L (1,587 cc) inline-four and produced , turning the Levin/Trueno (Japan), Corolla GT coupé (Europe) and Corolla GT-S (North America) into a what was arguably a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

. The three-door FWD hatchback was also available with this engine; it was known as the Corolla FX-GT in Japan and Corolla FX-16 in North America. This engine was also combined with the front-drive transaxle to power the

mid-engined In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

Toyota MR2 The Toyota MR2 is a line of two-seat, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports cars manufactured in Japan and marketed globally by Toyota from 1984 until 2007 over three generations: W10 (1984–1989), W20 (1989–1999) and W30 (2000–2007). It ...

. The Sprinter sports cars, in two-door coupé and three-door liftback forms, were notable for being the line's first use of pop-up headlamps, which the equivalent Corolla Levin sports models did not have. The liftback has a . Launched in Japan in May 1983, it reached Europe (including the right-hand drive UK market) three months later, and sold well in most European markets. The car was facelifted in May 1985, receiving larger headlights akin to those installed on the coupés. The smaller 1.3-litre A-series engine was replaced by the new 12-valve 2E unit at the same time for most markets.

Japan

The 1.3-litre 2A engine was replaced by the more modern 12-valve 2E engine along with a May 1985 facelift at ''

Toyota Corolla Store Toyota vehicles in Japan are distributed to numerous dealership chains throughout the country. Up to May 2020, each dealership chain had a different product offering, with some models restricted to one chain to maintain exclusivity. Since May 2020, ...

'' locations. The range began with the 1300 Custom DX and ended with the 1600 GT Limited, introduced in June 1986.'' Car Graphic: '80s Car Archives'', p. 19 The FX hatchback lineup was considered a semi-separate line and received a different nose and different equipment levels than its sedan and liftback counterparts. The 1.3 was not available in the FX, targeted at sportier buyers, until the 2E engine became available. Japanese market engines: * 2A-LU – 1.3 L I4, 8-valve

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

carb The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is the "clean air agency" of the government of California. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Moto ...

, (AE80) * 2E-LU – I4, 12-valve SOHC, carb (EE80) * 3A-LU – 1.5 L (1452 cc) I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, transverse mount, (AE81) * 3A-U – 1.5 L (1452 cc) I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, (AE85, RWD) * 4A-ELU – 1.6 L (1587 cc) I4, 8-valve SOHC, EFI, (AE82) * 4A-GELU – 1.6 L (1587 cc) I4, 16-valve

, EFI, (AE82) * 4A-GEU – 1.6 L (1587 cc) I4, 16-valve DOHC, EFI, (AE86, RWD) * 1C-L – I4, diesel, Mechanical Injection (CE80) Japanese market chassis: * AE80 – FWD, 2A-LU engine, 4-door sedan (Custom DX, DX, GL, GL Saloon, Lime, SE), 5-door

liftback A liftback is a variation of hatchback with a sloping roofline between 45 and 5 degrees. Traditional hatchback designs usually have a 90 to 46 degree slope on the tailgate or rear door. As such the liftback is essentially a hatchback with a more ...

(SX) * AE81 – FWD, 3A-LU engine, 4-door sedan (DX, GL, GL Saloon, Lime, SE, SE Saloon), 5-door liftback (SX, ZX), 3

(FX-D, FX-L, FX-L Lime), 5-door hatchback (FX-G, FX-L, FX-Lime, FX-SR) *AE82 – FWD, 4A-ELU/GELU engine, 4-door sedan (GT, SR), 5-door liftback (SX, ZX), 3-door hatchback (FX-GT, FX-SR), 5-door hatchback (FX-SR) * AE85 – RWD, 3A-U engine, 2-door

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

(Levin Lime, Levin GL, Levin SE), 3-door liftback (Levin SR) *

– RWD, 4A-GEU engine, 2-door coupé (Levin GT, Levin GT-APEX), 3-door liftback (Levin GT, Levin GT-APEX, Levin GTV) * CE80 – FWD, 1C-L engine, 4-door sedan (DX, GL, GL Saloon, SE), 5-door liftback (SX), 3/5-door hatchback (FX-G, FX-L) * EE80 – FWD, 2E-LU engine, 4-door sedan (DX, GL, SE, SE Saloon), 5-door liftback (SX), 3/5-door hatchback (FX-D, FX-L)

North America

The American specification was available with either

engines. From 1985 to 1988, NUMMI in Fremont, California built a rebadged version of the Sprinter sedan sold by

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

as the

. During calendar 1985, Corolla sedans and Sprinter-type 5-door hatchbacks (sold under both Nova and Corolla nameplates) were added, with the Toyota-branded US built cars gradually superseding imports from Japan and Nova hatchbacks being offered from the 1986 model year. Only the Corolla FX hatchback, launched in 1987 to replace the outgoing 3-door

Corolla Sport liftback, was imported from Japan. While all the rear-wheel drive 80-series Corollas were AE86 chassis in North America, the VINs differentiated between the three equipment levels: the DX got AE85, the SR-5 got AE86, and the GT-S received an AE88 VIN. North American market engines: * 1C 1.8 L I4, diesel, mechanical injection, (1984–85) * 4A-C 1.6 L I4, 8-valve

, * 4A-GEC 1.6 L I4, 16-valve

, EFI, North American market chassis: * AE82 – FWD sedan 4-door, 5-door

(Std, LE, LE Ltd, SR-5, GT-S) 3-door hatchback (FX/FX16) *

– RWD coupé 2-door, 3-door liftback coupé ::DX with 4A-C has "AE85" in VIN ::SR-5 with 4A-C has "AE86" in VIN ::GT-S with 4A-GEC has "AE88" in VIN * CE80 – FWD sedan 4-door (rare; low sales numbers)

Europe

European market engines: * 2A 1.3 L I4, 8-valve

, * 4A 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, * 4A-LC 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, (desmogged version for Sweden and Switzerland) * 4A-GE 1.6 L I4, 16-valve

, EFI, (121 PS in the hatchback) * 1C 1.8 L I4, Diesel, Mechanical Injection, * 2E 1.3 L I4, 12-valve SOHC, carb, European market chassis: * AE80/EE80 – FWD 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback, 3/5-door

(2A, 2E engines) * AE82 – FWD 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback, 3/5-door hatchback (4A engine) *

– RWD 2-door

, 3-door hatchback coupé (4A engine) * CE80 – FWD 1.8 diesel 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback, 5-door hatchback (1C engine)

Australia

Australian market engines: * 2A-LC 1.3 L I4, 8-valve

, AE80 * 4A-LC 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, AE82 * 4A-C 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb, AE86 * 4A-GELC 1.6 L I4, 16-valve

, EFI, 115 hp (86 kW) AE82 Twin Cam 16 Australian market chassis: * AE80 – FWD 4-door sedan /5-door

2A-LC * AE82 – FWD 4-door sedan /5-door hatchback /5-door Seca

Liftback A liftback is a variation of hatchback with a sloping roofline between 45 and 5 degrees. Traditional hatchback designs usually have a 90 to 46 degree slope on the tailgate or rear door. As such the liftback is essentially a hatchback with a more ...

4A-LC and 4A-GELC (Twin Cam 16 only) *

– RWD 3-door hatchback (badged as Toyota Sprinter) 4A-C Australian market levels: * 'S' This was the most basic entry level version of the E80 corolla. They came with only a driver's side door mirror, Corolla emblem where the analogue clock or tachometer would be, basic AM/FM radio, 4 speed manual or 3 speed automatic. AE80 hatch and sedan, AE82 hatch and sedan. * 'CS' This was a more mid-level range with the inclusion of door pockets, 5 speed manual, an analogue clock in the combination meter, passenger-side door mirror and wheel covers. AE80 hatch and sedan, AE82 hatch, sedan and sēca lift back. * 'CS-X' this was considered high range. They had included a tachometer in the combination meter, digital VFD clock in the dashboard, alloy rims, more seat adjustments, 4 speakers, and both door mirrors being remote controlled. AE82 sedan, hatch and sēca lift back. * 'Twin Cam 16' This was the highest level. Different interior with a 3 spoke leather steering wheel and leather gear knob similar to the ones used in FX corollas and AE86s, alloy rims, fuel injected 4A-GELC engine, 5 speed manual transmission only, combination meter with tachometer, digital clock in dashboard. Hatch and sēca lift back only.

Asia

Mainly 1.3 and 1.6 petrol engines were available in Asia: * 2A-C 1.3 L I4, 8-valve

, * 2E-L 1.3 L I4, 12-valve SOHC, carb, SAE net (Indonesia) * 4A-C 1.6 L I4, 8-valve SOHC, carb After the 1985 facelift, the 1.3 was switched to the new 12-valve E-series unit. Model designations changed at the same time; in Indonesia it was switched from GL to SE Saloon. The newer model has slightly bigger headlamps and also received flush hubcaps. Asian market chassis: * EE80 – FWD 4-door sedan * AE80 – FWD 4-door sedan * AE82 – FWD 4-door sedan

Motorsport

The rear-wheel-drive

models campaigned in the Group A rally championship from 1985 until 1992. Victories included a class win in the 1985 Rally Portugal (its first), with Jorge Ortigão driving and J. Batista navigating. The car continued to be raced as late as the 1993

Acropolis Rally The Acropolis Rally of Greece ( el, Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually duri ...

, with its best finish a third overall in the 1989 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (with Adolphe Choteau/Jean-Pierre Claverie). The AE86 became international prominent in the motorsport of drifting. Owners may heavily modify their AE86 models to where the only connection to the original model is the bodyshape. John Smith won the 1986 Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship driving a Corolla GT AE86.

References

* {{Toyota timeline (North America) 1980–2009 Cars introduced in 1983 Front-wheel-drive vehicles Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States 0 80