AE80/2 Corolla

It was all-change for the AE82 Corolla of 1985. Out went the outmoded rear-wheel drive for front-wheel drive, which helped create a far roomier car than before.

Initially launched were a four-door sedan and an extended five-door “liftback” hatchback called Seca, while a more conventional five-door hatch arrived in August. Wagon and commercial variants vanished.

The base engine was a new 1.3 unit (called 2A) developing 49kW of power, while the 58kW 1.6-litre 4A carried over from the KE70 but with some refinements.

Four and five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic were the gearboxes on offer, in sedan and hatch S, CS and CS-X guises.

The upmarket Seca CS and CS-X was only available with the bigger engine.

In March ’86 the most powerful Corolla to date was introduced in top-line hatch and Seca body styles.

Equipped with a - and called the - Twin-Cam, the five-speed manual-only 4A-GE 1.6-litre fuel-injected DOHC 16-valve engine produced 86kW of power.

To cope with the extra output, the brakes and suspension were upgraded.

Meanwhile, the regular 1.6-litre motor’s output dropped to 57kW – a corollary, so to speak, of the Toyota’s unleaded fuel requirements.