The Liftback Corolla, most of us remember it as the dull runabout that our grandparents drove or knew someone who drove one in the mid 2000s. Not the prettiest car but Toyota reliability meant it was guaranteed a following even to this day over two decades after its release.
Legendary touring car driver, champion and team owner Andy Rouse saw the Ae111 Corolla as an opportunity to provide privateer drivers with a reasonably priced car rather than buying expensive older works cars.
Regulations at the time required any homologation papers to be submitted in the country where the vehicle was produced. Usually this would not pose much of an issue, however the first bump in the road for the Corolla occurred when Toyota GB postponed the Corollas production in the U.K. This meant that Rouse had to submit homologation papers through Toyota Japan. After an initial refusal the project was green lit on July 1st
Scheduled for debut for the July Snetterton round, it became clear it would not make the meeting. While the paperwork end of the project was in limbo, all testing and development had ceased meaning it was behind on the competition. The July debut with Patrick Watts was missed and pushed back to August for Brands Hatch.
August came and funding issues came to the forefront, Brands Hatch would be missed. A final attempt would be made to debut the car at the RAC tourist trophy in October but once more budget was an issue. This was the final nail in the coffin and the project was shelved.
A one-off appearance was made in May 1999 at Castle Comb before being returned to storage and finding its way across to New Zealand where it remained in storage until 2010. Returning to racing after restoration in 2012.
Could it have been any good? The history of Andy Rouse would suggest that they probably would have been rather competitive for a short time but eventually have fallen behind as costs spiralled out of control with the Supertourers ultimately leading to the class's demise.
The concept of an affordable and competitive car for independent teams would have surely seen the Corolla be a success and maybe even sneak onto the podium on occasion. It is an interesting thought experiment to think what could have happened had the Corolla been on the grid to compete with the other manufacturers. Would Rouse have also entered as a team owner once again with factory backing from Toyota had the project been competitive? We may never know the answer to this and many other questions but it is fun to wonder.
For the love of Supertouring. Danny IG: @that_405_guy Supertouring TV Writer
Special thanks to @Corolla32Ste on instagram for the images Check out his own build as he attempts to re-create this piece of Supertouring history!
Great read and well put together, and thanks for the mention to as the build starts to gather speed.