For the complete picture, I would like to tell something about the history of the Corolla in general.

For most people, the Corolla isn't a very exciting car. It is often discribed as a gray mouse that doesn't really attract any attention on the road. I think that shouldn't always be the case.

I don't think I'll have to tell anybody that Toyota is a Japanese car manufacturer. In 1936 they began to build cars. A year later the Toyota Motor Corporation was born.

In 1966 they introduced the first Corolla with modelcode E10.

It was a small, light car with a 1100cc engine that would produce about 60hp and through a 4- speed gearbox it would reach a topspeed of about 140km/h.

The big advantage of the Corolla was it's simplicity. It was simpel, but very robust and well built. Because of that, there wasn't much that could break. It was a very relaiable car. Something Toyota is still known for today.

Because of it's huge popularity, it was exported to 7 other countries including The Neterlands.

In 1970 the Corolla E10 was replaced with the E20 series.

This was available with a 1200cc end a 1600cc engine. It was slightly larger and the looks changed a bit. What remained was the simplicity and the relaibility.

In 1974 it was time for the E30 series Corolla.

Which was replaced with the E70 series in 1979 (Yes, they skipped the 40, 50 and 60).

Like you can see in the pictures, the car grew a little with every generation but the basic principle of simplicity was maintained.

Now it's time for the Corolla's, most people will recognise or maybe even see driving in the streets today.

In 1983, the E80 series Corolla was introduced.

With a transversely placed engine, this were the first Corolla's with front wheel drive (except the coupé models: The AE86's). Up to then, all Corolla's were rear wheel driven..

The engines used were a 1300cc and 1600cc petrol engine. And a 1800cc diesel engine.

The 1600cc engine had a 100hp variant and a 125hp variant.

And then, there was the AE86.

This was the rear wheel driven, coupé model of the E80 series.

It featured the famous 4A-GE engine and a 5-speed gearbox

I am mentioning it because it is the predecessor of my own Corolla coupé.

In the drift and tuning scene it's still a very populair car, partially because of the rock solid 4A-GE engine, rear wheel drive and the low weight.

Ideal as a driftcar, something they are still used for a lot today.

This is where the history lesson ends.

We're now in the year 1988. The year they introduced the car this website is all about. The 6th generaion Corolla: The E90 series.

In the Netherlands, the Corolla E90 was available as a Hatchback, Sedan, Liftback or Wagon.

The Hatchback and Liftback were the best selling models.

The engines available were practically the same as the E80 series.

A 1300cc and two 1600cc engines and a 1800cc diesel engine.

The modelcode was partially determend by the sort of engine in the car .

The models with the 1300cc petrol engine had the modelcode EE90.

The models with the 1600cc petrol engines had the modelcode AE92.

The models with the 1800cc diesel engine were known as the CE90

All the 4WD models had the modelcode AE95.

Front wheel drive was now standard on al Corolla models. Only the Sedan and Wagon were available as 4WD.

In 1990 Toyota did a light face-lift on the E90 Corolla's with some slight exterior modifications and some technical improvements, such as the electronic fuel injected engines that were now standard on all models.

The E90 series was available in several versions. From the very basic XL models with practically no luxuries up to the sporty GTi models.

The Corolla AE92 GT-S Coupé

Now I can practically hear you guys wondering: What about the car this whole site is dedicated to? The Toyota Corolla Coupé wasn't mentioned in the text above.

That's right. The coupé has never been offered in the Dutch Toyota showrooms. It was reserved for the Canadian, American and Azian markets.

In America the coupé models were sold under the Corolla name and were available in 2 versions: The SR-5 model (the basic model) and the more sporty GT-S (the top of the Corolla line).

Where the SR-5 had to make do with the 4A-F engine, drum brakes in the rear and without any form of external upgrades. The GT-S was standard equiped with a spoiler, sideskirts, a sporty interior, discbrakes in the rear and of course the famous 4A-GE engine.

To make the car legal and comply to US regulations, the USDM Corolla's had some changes in relation to the same cars for different markets. They were equiped with sidemarkers on the rear quarter panels, less powerfull engines with a EGR system due to enviromental legislation, different wingmirrors and different bumpers front and rear.

Weird detail about the American coupé's: Where it is common for Toyota to give their cars a mid-life face-lift to up the sales a bit. This apparently didn't happen to the American Corolla coupé's.

A USDM Corolla GT-S

 Things were a bit more complicated on the Azian markets. They also sold de coupé under the Corolla name. But next to the Corolla line, there is also the Sprinter line, cars that were based on the Corolla's.

I think I have a clear picture about the coupé models, but what the difference is between the Corolla and the Sprinter line isn't quite clear to me.

But things are complicated enough for the coupé models alone.

There were 2 different versions of the coupé. One was sold under the Corolla name, being called Corolla Levin. The other was Sold as a Sprinter, the Sprinter Trueno.

The main difference between these cars, that share the same body, is the different fronts.

The Corolla Levin had a conventional front:

A JDM Corolla Levin GT-Z (Zenki)

The Sprinter Trueno had more sporty lines and you could be recognise it by it's pop-up headlights:

A JDM Sprinter Trueno (Zenki)

It is common for Toyota to give their models a mid-life face-lift to modernize it a bit and stimulate sales again.

In contrast to the American models, the Azian coupé's did get their face-lift. To keep them apart, the pre-facelift and after facelift models got a unofficial nickname. Pre-facelift models are called Zenki. models that were build after the facelift are called Kouki. This facelift occured somewhere in 1990.

With this facelift, the most noticable diffenrences are the external changes. Both the Corolla as the Sprinter models got a new front:

A JDM Corolla Levin (Kouki)

A JDM Sprinter Trueno GT-Z (Kouki)

These cars came with several different trim levels in Asia. These were called the GT, GT-APEX, GT-V  and the GT-Z.

The GT-Z (recognisable by it's hoodscoop for the intercooler) was the top of the line and was featured in both the Corolla as the Sprinter line. It was fitted with the 165bhp supercharged 4A-GZE engine. The strongest 1600cc engine on the Japanese market at the time.

Appart from the 4A-GZE engine, that was only available on the Japanese market, and the fact that all the Japanese cars are right hand drive, all the coupé models are technically the same to the AE92 models for other markets. Parts from the susspension, engine, transmission, brakes, etc are practically all exchangable with each other. A lot of the interior parts, like the seats, centre console, etc are exchangable aswell.

Non of the bodypanels are exchangable with other models in the AE92 range like the hatchback, liftback, sedan or Wagons.

My own coupé was intended for the Canadian market. Toyota made special 'cold-spec' cars for the Candian and Scandinavian market where it can get very cold. These were fitted with foot heating for the rear passengers and a larger heat exchanger for the heating system.

My Corolla came to The Netherlands in 1991 and although I tried to find out more about the history of my car, I wasn't able to find anything.

The only thing I know for sure is that my car was build in Japan in September 1988 and it rolled of the production line as number 878 from its productionrun.

I susspect that I'm the 3rd or 4th owner of this car.