Toyota Carina II (1986) – Into the Wild

If you think of the Toyota Carina, you may initially think of the Carina E. Not surprising, because it is still the freshest in the memory. Yet its predecessor, the second Carina II, was also quite a common car in the Netherlands. A bit rarer was the first Carina II. We now once again have a copy in front of us, thanks to AutoWeek forum member HarmenA.

After a few Toyotas simply called Carina, we became acquainted with this Carina II in the first half of the 1980s. It owed its name to the fact that it was actually a Toyota Corona, but Toyota wanted to market it in Europe under the Carina name. Unlike the older Carina-without-II, this one had front-wheel drive and had to be able to handle the competition better here. The first Carina II did so in two forms, as the liftback spotted here and as a sedan. The sedan version has already shined in this section and is even rarer if possible.

Here we have a Carina II in front of us as you still encountered it quite regularly in its time. A silver-grey 1.6 GL, the basic engine, but just a little more luxuriously equipped than the entry-level DX. Those who wanted a little more spice could go for the 1.8 with injection and for diesels there was still the 2.0 D. With the 86 hp 1.6 that it has in its nose, you could already move forward very well. It went from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.7 seconds and had a top speed of 175 km/h. The most important thing, however, was that it was a rock-solid block that remained available in numerous models until 2002 for a reason.

The carriage of this Carina II may have needed a little more love than the technology to get this old. In any case, it seems to have been handled with care, because for an original car that is already 37 years old, the Carina II still looks good. Last month the current owner got the keys, he drives something (now) special!