This is a 1972 Toyota Corolla Levin, internally designated the TE27. Designed by Tatsuo Hasegawa, the Corolla Levin is a high-performance version of the Toyota Corolla; it is the twin of the Sprinter Trueno. Both models were introduced in March 1972 for the E20-generation Corolla.
Inspiration for the Corolla Levin came from Toyota manager Geisuke Kubō, who wanted to offer a sporty coupe similar to what Alfa Romeo did with their Giulia Junior. The Corolla Levin was powered by a 1.6L 2T-G inline-4 making 113 BHP, mated to a 5-speed Toyota T50 manual borrowed from the Celica and Carina. The Corolla Levin was only available in a coupe body style; differences between the Corolla Levin and standard Corolla models include wider fenders, a quicker steering rack and on some models a lack of servo brakes.
In the United States, the Corolla Levin was sold as the Corolla SR-5. The Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno received a facelift in August 1972, a few months after it was introduced. In April 1973, the Corolla Levin J and Sprinter Trueno J were introduced, fitted with a less powerful 1.6L 2T-B inline-4 making about 104 BHP, shared with the Corolla 1600 ST coupe. All Corolla Levins were assembled at Toyota's Takaoka Plant. Japanese buyers of the Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno were obligated to pay more taxes as its displacement exceeded a certain tax bracket. Production ended in 1974 with the discontinuation of the E20-series Corolla coupe.
Now this casting was designed by Phil Riehlman and introduced in 2024 in the Car Culture line. This is currently its only release. It features a large front lip not typically present on stock Corolla Levins.
