Toyota's Takaoka Plant was built in 1966 exclusively for Corolla production. The first car rolled off the production line 8 months after construction began. The plant is still the main Corolla production factory and builds more than 600,000 cars a year.

Although we here in SA only got the Corolla in 1975, it was already available in Japan in 1966. The 5th Generation Corolla (E-80 Series) was the first to be manufactured in this country (Durban) from 1983.

The following video from 1984 is the advert for the 'new' Corolla Sprinter. The hairstyles, 80s music and dance moves are sure to give you a good chuckle but the point is clear: the Corolla keeps 'going one better' with every release.

Who knew that 'Corolla' is the latin term for a 'crown of flowers'...?

The name followed a Toyota tradition of naming its cars with words starting with a C. Toyota still uses Latin-based names like Auris and Avensis for its passenger cars...

More to follow...