Toyota Corona 1964-70: (Electric) Razor-Edge Styling

The Toyota that considerably helped the firm's effort to get established in the American automobile market was its Corona model of 1964-70.  It is discussed here (scroll down to "Third generation").   The entry, lacking a reference citation, asserts "The Italian designer Battista Farina assisted in the appearance of the new Corona."  On the other hand, the Wikipedia entry on Pininfarina does not mention any link to the Corona, citing instead the 1965 Nissan Cedric, a competing car.  Whoever was responsible, the 1965-vintage Corona was a nicely styled compact car of its vintage.

As for the electric razor remark in this post's title, I made it because the frontal ensemble of the Corona somewhat reminded me of the shaving end of an electric razor.  And the razor-edge bit was intended to be a sly take on razor-edge styling on custom Rolls-Royces, vintage 1940s.

The backwards-leaning Corona front was unusual for its time.  That's because styling fashion in those pre-aerodynamic days was to have front fender profile leaning forwards, the objective to have a strong, long line at shoulder level to make a car seem as long as possible.  Toyota's contrarian approach gave the car a stubbier look, but that didn't seem to affect sales negatively.

All things considered, I consider this Corona a successful design.

Gallery

1965 Japanese version of the Corona.  It lacks the chrome strip that runs along the shoulder of the fender line seen in the images below.

Almost-side view of a 1965 Corona.  This shows the backwards slope of the grille.

Rear of 1966 Corona.  Neatly styled.

Another front 3/4 view, this of a 1966 Corona in South Africa.  The greenhouse area reminds me of that on contemporary Volvo144s.