July 26: Corolla - don't be so smug

Dear little Corolla. It went from a nothing little import to the very best selling car in the world. But there was a time, when the dinosaurs roamed this fair land. A time when it would be laughable to think that this little Corolla would ever make that kind of impact. Times change and how. But before this Corolla pushed aside the big guys, those behemoths ruled supreme and were completely undaunted by the little cars from Japan that were nipping at their heels. Such a nuisance.

Those land yachts rocked in their day.

1,046,514. Impressive number, eh. Way back in '65 (you remember those days, don't you?), one name plate sold this many cars in one year. Correction, one model within that line sold this many cars. Chevrolet ruled the roads in 1965, but within their full size line up, the Impala was America's darling. The Impala nameplate sold over one million cars. A record that has never been bettered anywhere since then. Pretty impressive, when you realize that Chev also had a couple of other full size cars, a mid-size, a compact, a smaller compact, the Corvette and a truck line. Altogether they sold enough to be a separate car company.

But the Impala was the dream machine and these three were featured in most of the dreams  -  the coupe, the convertible and the sports sedan. Each with a new body for 1965 and arguably the best looking cars on the road at that time. But there were other models......

The full size station wagon. Extremely popular in its day, but now replaced by the sport utility or crossover in most North American car lines, BMW and Mercedes being the exceptions. Had a big family in '65? Then you had no choice, but to slide into one of these immense and immensely practical wagons.

Dream car for most red blooded North American car guys. But on the horizon there was the pesky little Corolla. Who cares, as only quirky types would buy this quirky little import. Right? Well, you know the answer, if you read my first paragraph.

Moral of this story is to watch your back and never be complacent. Who would ever have thought back in 1965, that one day, Chevrolet would actually put their name on a Corolla? Another story for another day.

Until next time.........