I NOTE with pride the recent 50-million milestone sales of the Corolla that took the motoring world by storm. It gives me stupendous joy because I have a special affinity with this iconic Toyota model for the longest time.
For one, the second brand-new car that I bought was a Corolla. For another, the Corolla has become a perennial resident at the family garage for more than 30 years now.
My first brand-new car was the Beetle. One reason is, its price of 41k fitted into my salary range as a sportswriter then at Manila Bulletin in 1981. In short, I got it on loan. But you know what? I picked the Beetle chiefly because of that Beetle parked on the pavement in the cover jacket photo of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. I’m a Beatlemaniac, remember?
With the Beetle’s arrival came the decision to dispatch my Morris minivan. Because the minivan had seen better days—it was a Bulletin delivery truck before I acquired it—the van cost a mere 4k. The lucky buyer was my wife’s bosom friend, the eminent journalist Monica Feria (bless her soul).
I had the Beetle for a good dozen years. Enjoy.
With the arrival of my first Corolla in 1991—thanks to an astronomical discount from my good friend Rey Oben—the Beetle just had to go. With a heavy heart—as in the Morris goodbye—I sold my Beetle for a song to my childhood chum: 14k.
Ten years later, I purchased the 10th generation Corolla—again on car loan, of course. How could I possibly pay in full a brand-new car with a mere employee’s salary?
It was now a case of a Corolla dislodging a Corolla out of the garage. This time, it was the tandem of the inimitable Vince Socco and the mercurial Ariel de Jesus doing the honors in procuring my second brand-new Corolla. Almost a year after the purchase, my second Corolla scored a family milestone: It became the wedding car of my daughter.
How can I not love forever my daughter’s car of her dreams, the Corolla being also the only model found in 150 countries?
Some 20 years and 13,350 km (yes, exactly 13,350 kms) later, my 1.8G Altis Corolla remains in tip-top shape. Drives like brand new. Handles almost effortlessly. Rides comfortably.
Except for a change of all four tires, nothing’s been altered. It’s been the same car as when it first found its home at the family garage in 2001. Shiny as ever.
Indeed, the 1-liter, five-seater sedan that engineer Tatsuo Hasegawa has unleashed has come a long way 55 years since its inception in November 1966. It even has an electric variant now, after its super-successful hybrid Prius was launched in 1997. Not to mention the recently rolled out Corolla Cross—a revolutionary 12th generation SUV version, mind you—is fast doing wonders globally.
In Toyota’s template of kaizen (continuous development), the search for excellence, in the words of Toyota chieftain Alfred V. Ty, “has no limits.”
Corollas, like diamonds, are forever.
PEE STOP Toyota movement: Tini Arevalo is now senior VP and division head of new mobility business handling fleet and connected services, and Jing Atienza is senior VP, overall marketing head in vehicle logistics and new mobility business. Cheers!