Celebrating 40 years of the Toyota Corolla

Toyota unveiled its new Auris at the Paris Motorshow last month, and earlier this month, the Corolla Axio was launched in Japan. From what information Oneshift.com was able to gather, the Corolla Axio comes with 1.5- and 1.8-litre VVTi engines coupled to a Continuously Variable Transmission. As for the Auris, it will replace the Corolla in European markets, but no details have been released about which engines power it. The European-styled Auris hatchback is sold in Japan with the same engines as the Corolla Axio. Both the Corolla Axio and Auris will definitely give us a good idea of what the next Corolla Altis, the 10th generation model to bear the Corolla badge, will look like. More importantly, will the next Corolla Altis be displayed at the Toyota stand at the forthcoming Singapore Motorshow? Remember, you read it first on this website! For sneak peeks of the Auris, check out: http://www.toyota-europe.com For the official press release for the Corolla Axio, check out: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/06/1010.html

Poised to become the No. 1 carmaker in the world, and producer of the Corolla and Camry, two of the most successful and recognized model ranges ever, when Toyota develops a car for the future, its definitely worth taking a second look. At the 2005 Aichi World Expo in Japan, Toyota showed off a number of interesting concept cars, but by far the most radical was the i-unit, a single-seater mobility pod. Powered by a lithium-ion battery and an electric motor, the design for the i-unit was inspired by a leaf. A development from the PM concept car that Toyota showed at the 2005 Tokyo Motorshow, the i-unit assumes an upright and compact stance in town, but gets lower and longer as it moves faster. The i-unit also features some radical ideas about driver interface, some including the recognition of the driver’s veins! Another interesting feature is that the i-unit’s body panels are made from kenaf the fiber from a quick growing and CO2 absorbing plant grown in South East Asia. If the i-unit was shown off by any other car maker, it would easily be dismissed as pure fantasy. But as the level-headed engineers at Toyota have developed it, it may very well be the Corolla of the future! Check it out at: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/emerging_tech/i-unit/about.html

Tucked in a corner next to the Lexus LF-A concept car, Toyota/Lexus displayed a model of the V-10 engine that will probably find its way into the next Supra and Lexus coupe. Not many details of the engine have been revealed accept that it has a capacity of "less than five litres", according to the press release. The release also says that it is "an engine capable of developing more than 500bhp"! This engine is able to rocket the LF-A to a claimed top speed of 322km/h, which would make it a rival Ferraris and Aston Martins. The LF-A certainly looks good, and lets hope the production car maintains the style and proportion of this concept car.