When life gives you lemons you‘re supposed to make lemonade, and when it gives you Corollas, you should definitely make something like today’s SR5. We’ll just have to see if its price is a sour note.

Did you know that if it weren’t for retailer Montgomery Ward we wouldn’t have to listen to every holiday season? We also wouldn’t have had yesterday’s , and that would have been a shame. Fully 85% of you gave it a Nice Price win for its twenty-two hundred dollar price, noting that it is in fact a year-round classic.

Speaking of classic - or at least something that’s been around for a very long time - Toyota’s Corolla is one of that brand’s longest-running nameplates, and, as a series, is one of the world’s most numerous production cars ever.

Sadly though, most Corolla’s haven’t been, how shall I put this… particularly expressive of the enthusiast’s passion. We’ll just have to see if this is one of those that does.

This was the final year of the second generation, E20 Corolla and this one comes with all the goods. Under the hood is claimed to be a DOHC 2T-G 1,588-cc four which the factory pegged at 113-bhp. Installed behind that is a T50 five-speed out of a later ride, and the car has had both its A/C and heater removed because… well, maybe the builder is in the fence about this whole climate change issue.

Arrest me red paint covers everything that its supposed to be and is unimpeded by badges or trunk lock as all of those have been shaved off. The flares are said to be factory steel and the car rides low on 13-inch Watanabe alloys with old Sumitomo tires doing rubber duty.

There is some rust - have a gander at that trunk lid - but the seller says it’s not serious, and replacement parts are ready to be painted and installed. There’s also supposedly some peeling of paint on the rear flares and some wonkiness under the rear bumper so don’t think this is a turn-key entrant.

The interior has been all redone with custom upholstered Corbeau seats and matching door cards. The dash is all carbon fiber to keep you regular, and the stock instrument cluster has been replaced by AutoMeter gauges - the speedo and tach of which are presently just for show. Not for show are the carpet, headliner, and rear seat, all of which have gone the way of Elvis.

That promised 2T-G is a pretty exciting proposition, what with its fresh Mikuni 44s. It would have been nice if the seller had managed to actually pop the hood and give us a glimpse, wouldn’t you think?

We do get to see the trunk, which is filled with a racing fuel cell and battery box. Lots of mechanical updates are noted in the ad, and the seller avers that you won’t find another Corolla of this ilk in as interesting a shape. One other thing about the pics and ad - they don’t seem to be from where the car presently lives - and the Car-from-UK badge on them indicates that they may be from a previous sale. Just wanted to point that out.

The Corolla was never intended to be a fancy car, and to make this one so it meant adding a lot of parts from the JDM edition to make something that the factory never offered here in the States.

That’s probably got to count for something, and it’s now up to you to decide if that in fact counts for the seller’s $10,000 asking. Yes, that’s a lot of money for an old Corolla, but then, this isn’t just any old Corolla. What do you think, is this cool Corolla worth that kind of scratch? Or, is that just too much for this SR5 jive?

You decide!

Hickory , or go if the ad disappears.

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