1984-1989 Toyota MR2
On my first Car Lust blog post, I had to introduce myself with a car near and dear to my heart, the 1985-87 Toyota Corolla GT-S (RWD please, not the “cute” FX GT-S). Fast-forward to today; I haven’t driven the Corolla in months due to another quirky, mid-1980s Toyota acquisition: a first-generation Toyota MR2.
Owning one of these is really a unique experience. It’s just one of those semi-old-school Japanese, timeless cars that you see once in a while. Other than sharing the 4AG motor, rear-wheel driving pleasure, and flip light characteristics with the AE86, the first-generation MR2 really has its own character. Of course, it just depends who you ask. Sometimes I get the: “OMG, my mom had one of those cute little cars ... ” Other times I get the “REALLY poor man’s Ferrari” comment. On a good day, an enthusiast will tell me that he’s won a few trophies from auto-crossing with one in the early 1990s.
Regardless of whose memory is stirred up by seeing one, you definitely feel the love. So what if I can’t put a bunch of stuff under the hood (frunk, I guess) or trunk? I still love this thing! After all, the initial goal of finding one of these was to take advantage of the 32 MPG and still have that Uncle Rico cool-factor. Plus, when it's powering a car that weighs only 2,400 pounds, the stock 112-horsepower engine isn’t too bad. I guess we can discuss the supercharged version of the Mk. I MR2 down the road.
Now, if someone can just tell me how to keep a white car clean! I thought maintaining a black car was tough--keeping a white car clean isn’t a walk in the park either.
My own MR2 isn't quite picture-worthy yet, so I found both of these pictures from Flickr user skaughtto (a.k.a. Scott Olsen). He looks to be pretty talented at capturing cars on film, among other things. There’s a little part of me that wants to just throw away my camera after seeing his collection of photos, specially his automotive portfolio. Some guys just know how to capture a car’s lines …even an old, boxy Toyota.
--Bernard B.
That Car Guy on February 06, 2009 at 04:04 PM
Nice post, Bernard! The closest sports car I've had to one of these is a Fiero, though the Miata is fun when I need to "save gas".
I have a big white truck, and I keep it clean simply by using a hose and a sponge; on a good day, I'll mix up a bucket of soapy water. I think white is the most serviceable color on a vehicle, and you can get a little sloppy waxing it and nobody will notice! I use a soft wax (Can I say KIT here?) to keep the paint slick; if you can rub your fingernails on paint and scratch it, you need to wax.
White vehicles are cooler in the summer, show imperfections less, and should be easy to match if disaster strikes. If your auto painter can't match a white car, please tell him to hang up his spray gun and holster.
Harry S. Wang on February 06, 2009 at 05:51 PM
i see a dent on the right front fender.
Gavin on February 06, 2009 at 05:57 PM
What an awesome little car! I remember sitting in one of these at my local Toyota showroom as an 11 year old in England back in 1986 (while my father's '83 Tercel was being serviced) and marvelling over the driving position and the shifter at chest height!
Now I regularly see a red one in my local town in rusty Massachusetts, with Illinois plates and beat to hell. Yet, whenever I see it, I lust after it...
Mochi Mochi on February 06, 2009 at 08:58 PM
There are so many great things about the 1st gen MR2. But i have to say that tops among them is the fact that NOTHING built today or in recent years looks ANYTHING like it. It's closest styling relatives are: the Lancia Stratos, the Lotus Esprit, a Fiat X1/9, and an F14 fighter jet. the F14 seems to have been the inspiration for the instrument panel and dash design.
These things handle amazingly well. One might think that they are just light little bits of fluff, but they have a truly rugged feel and an incredibly rigid frame. The SC models are fast and have a brutish character.
It's hard to know exactly how the world saw these when they were in show rooms. Meaning did the car ever really look aggressive? Hard to tell. Today they have a decidedly cute attitude that belies what's under the skin.
As far as keeping it clean. hit it with wax on a regular basis and use a high pressure sprayer washing from top to bottom to drive the dirt down and off the car. Use the sprayer like a broom and wash the dirt away to the edges of the car.
One of the reasons i love the looks of this little car is that it is a set of intersecting planes joined by some tightly creased and folded metal. My favorite view of the car is from above and behind. At that angle you get a great view of the engine lid with cooling louvers. That flat vented area behind the driver is so unusual and tough looking. Exaggerating the planar styling and then dropping in these nice dramatic cooling vents at key locations in the aft of the car is just a great touch.
I've really fallen for the 1st gen. I think that the 2nd gen is probably the prettiest (definitely the heaviest). The 3rd gen is probably the most awkward, one of the reasons i actually like it. But the 1st gen has a special charm partly because it extends from a time when cars like the Stratos and the Esprit and planes like the F14 were all about the coolest things you could imagine. And so the 1st gen has that playful quality, where you can really see the joy and inspiration of the designers.
isitacrossfromchris on February 07, 2009 at 06:42 AM
Back in 1988 I worked at a "Costco-type" warehouse club called BJ's. I used to manage the Security guys who check your receipt at the door. I will never forget one evening a newly hired employee was telling me about the new MR2 he just picked up. On break we went out to have a look. I distinctly remember at the time being floored by what to me looked like an exotic. I may have been skewed to thinking that all Japanese cars were exotic because all my family ever owned were 70's/80's Chrysler products (my first "sports car" was a 1984 Chrysler Laser). Regardless, I was in awe at the ironing board spoiler, the bright red paint (just like the one in the pics), it's two seat configuration and a delicious interior that looked like nothing I had seen before.
Once we were back to work he threw me the keys and said "take her for a ride". I did the polite "oh no, the car's brand new, are you sure?". He was extremely nonchalant about handing this 18 year old kid the keys to his brand new car and insisted I take it out. I immediately drove it a few miles to a friend's house. When he came out I convinced him I had bought the car earlier in the day. He jumped in and we drove around our little town of Chicopee, MA mouths agape and feeling really cool. My love of unusual cars was born that day. Nice job Bernard, thanks for drumming up a great memory that had been dormant in my brain for the last few years.
...m... on February 07, 2009 at 07:04 AM
...absolutely reflective of eighties futurism in its styling, i don't think the first-generation MR2 would look out of place shuttling reptilian dignitaries to the united nations in V...i think it and other cars reflective of is era - the peter stevens esprit and elan m100, for example - will have aged very nicely in another ten to fifteen years, conveying a certain period sophistication in stride with nagel art prints and jean-michel jarre cityscape performances...
...even putting aside its styling, the MR2 remains a fantastic car - an affordable, efficient, and reliable runabout built upon fundamental design conceits of handling and performance...it's a shame that lightweight mid-engined two-seaters have never really caught on outside of the supercar realm, but that makes these accessible examples all the more special, i think...
Shawn on February 07, 2009 at 08:40 AM
These are great little cars. I saw a black one last night, actually. I remember driving a friend's MR2 years ago and being impressed by how buttoned down to the road it was. The interior is surprisingly comfortable and pretty easy to get in to for a sports car as well.
The Nissan Pulsar NX I think was inspired a lot by the MR2 styling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_EXA_1987.jpg
Anthony Cagle on February 07, 2009 at 10:10 AM
These always seemed to me to be one of those designs that evokes a certain period but still looks fresh years later. Like the Datsun Z cars. I never really thought of them as "cute" though; everyone I knew just thought they were a really great and reliable sports car that handled like a dream. The square-back seems to have aged better than the rounded one they did later, although even that one still looks good to me today.
Excellent! I hope you have loads of fun driving it.
Neshobanakni on February 07, 2009 at 04:29 PM
Best car I ever had! A red '85, I would just look for the curviest roads I could find ... and fly! And that sound right behind you was so sweet.
Jeff on February 07, 2009 at 04:33 PM
I bought one brand-new in 1987, just retired it 3 months ago with 226,000 miles on it. The last couple years I was putting 16,000 miles on it annually as a daily driver but it was getting too hard to find parts (Needs a steering rack right now, among other things).
Fantastic car - it's a go-cart to drive. Not particularly fast on the top end (I got it up to 120 once), but decent acceleration, and I defy anybody to keep up with it in the twistys.
Mine's silver, which is a great way to avoid showing dirt. Somehow I kept it from rusting out while driving it through several Wisconsin winters, but the interior's getting a bit beat up.
As to styling, one of the things I liked best about it is that it looked like nothing else on the road. Fiero was a cheap knock-off, the 2nd gen MR2 tried to go ferrari-looking and was an okay car, but bigger and heavier.
And you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in it if you know what you're doing. In 2002 I went on a two-week cross-country trip with my SO, including camping gear. The trick is to use lots of small [soft] containers instead of a few large ones.
RedTuna on February 07, 2009 at 04:42 PM
Bernard, come over and play with us on the MR2 Owners Club forum, MR2OC.com. You'll find a wealth of information and thousands of MR2 enthusiasts to help you get that MkI in tip-top shape.
Nancy Gee on February 07, 2009 at 04:50 PM
I had a red MR-2. It was nice. Low to the road and heavy enough to corner well, and I don't remember ever having to get out and carry it over speed bumps like with the Corvette that preceded it, nor did it chug up steep streets, and it was heavy enough that I felt like someone would notice if they hit me on the freeway which is how I felt driving the scarily light Miata that followed it.
I remember one spring day in Oregon when the mood hit and the sun shone that I drove down the I-5 freeway from Portland to Eugene averaging 80-100 MPH. It was great -- people would look in their rear-view mirrors, see a little red bullet racing down the freeway towards them and very kindly pull over to give me a free lane. The police were even in a benevolent mood and no place to be seen as I performed my version of Pinball Rally.
I hit a patch of black ice driving to my parent's on Christmas morning and wrapped it around a Doug fir tree trunk. Poor little MR-2.
RobJ on February 07, 2009 at 05:05 PM
Ahhh... the "Mister 2". I traded in my Celica GT for a slightly used 86' model back in 89'. Not the most practical ride, but a helluva lot of fun for a single guy running around the Boston area. Mine was black with the black leather interior and removable sunroof (stashed under the hood). High points were the
go cart-like handling, and the feel of that gearbox. I would regularly bump the rev limiter winding it out in first and second. Eventually blew a belt on the southeast expressway which wreaked havoc with the engine and never performed quite the same way again. Don't see many of these around anymore.
Boyd on February 07, 2009 at 05:24 PM
Just finishing up my '85 with a super-charged engine swap. The '85 was the first year in the US and many of us MR2 fanatics consider it the best since it really was introduced as an autocross racer and the '85 could be had (as mine is) in a totally stripped version that was much lighter and more nimble than the later stock supercharged versions. Great car.
Peg C. on February 07, 2009 at 05:55 PM
OMG. I had a 1986 metallic blue MR2 from July '86 until late '02. It was the first car I ever actually owned and it was my pride and joy. When I bought it, I was living in West L.A. When we donated it, I was married and living in NY state. This car was so much fun it should have been illegal. In 9 years in L.A. I put 40K miles on it; in 7 years in NY we put another 120K on it and basically drove it into the ground on a long work commute.
The 1sr gen MR2 was infamous at least in L.A. for having the seats stolen. Here is how much I loved that car: my seats were stolen *4 times* and I didn't get rid of it. The last time, the insurance co. refused to pay and I paid out of pocket. One of the 4 times, they not only took my seats but also my Alpine stereo and a bag of homemade cassette tapes. Once the whole car was stolen and I had to go get it at 4 in the morning in a seedy part of Santa Monica and drive it home sitting on a box with a screwdriver in the missing ignition.
My family thought I was insane to go through this repeatedly. I can honestly say I've never gotten attached to a car since - that one took all I had. I'll never forget it - it was the best car ever.
Hucbald on February 07, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Ack! It should be illegal to write about the MR2 without mentioning the Fiat X1/9, because it was Fiat's departure - and later Bertone's - that made Toyota build the MR2. Without the X1/9, there would never have been an MR2!
I had a '74 X1/9 and years later a girlfriend had an MR2. The MR2 was more up to date and civilized, but nowhere near as cool as the X1/9. It was exactly what I expected of a Japanese rendering of an X1/9. EXACTLY! Over twice the reliability and less than half the personality.
R Pete on February 07, 2009 at 09:47 PM
When I bought my first year 1985 MR2 in white (my first new car) I had a rose etched into the small window on the driver's side because I just 'knew' I'd need it to find it in the parking lot when everybody else eventually bought them too.
I passed up the Mustang GT (dealer treated me like an ass), RX7 (top end model overpriced), Fiero GT (thank goodness), Alfa Graduate (made up for that later with an Alfetta GTV) and a few others. The salesman was busy wrapping up a sale when I pointed and said, "I want to drive that." He threw me the keys and said, "don't think about shifting below 4 grand." He had the paperwork out when I came back for a hair under $12k. Very poor man's Ferrari indeed.
I can't begin to tell you what I did to and in that car other than to say I believe that I found all of its limits.
Years later after my buddy found himself with child number two he gave me his black '87 to drive across the country (he had originally bought his because I had let him drive mine). I don't know whatever happened to the white one, but the black one currently lives in Vegas and I got dibs on it when its owner decides he's done.
David Colborne on February 07, 2009 at 09:49 PM
Oddly enough, I saw those things all of the time when I was a kid (lived in Southern California at the time) and never really thought about them much. Now, though, I wish I had - they look like solid, fun little machines. Very impressive.
Marc Medina on February 07, 2009 at 11:18 PM
Yep, Scotts car is VERY clean and he's a great photographer too. His id pretty much stock. Mine has had quite a laundry list of things done to it, including a 6 speed conversion. Check it out if you have some time.
Kevin Murphy on February 08, 2009 at 12:36 AM
I had a 1985 MR2, and it was the best shifting car I've ever driven. Light, but solid as a rock. The Recaro seats were thief-magnets -- I think they dropped them after '86 or so -- mine was hit twice. The car had a few mechanical problems -- the cooling system particularly, and like any mid-engine car it was expensive to work on.
Saw a silver '86 today with 89K, great condition and all the options for about $4500. In another economy....
OldCarGuy on February 08, 2009 at 05:10 AM
My first/only new car purchase was a 1987 MR-2, in black, to contrast with my brother's white '85 Mister. Many early Sunday mornings found myself and a good friend taking turns putting that wonderful car through its paces on winding, twisting hilly roads. It was THE BEST HANDLING CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED. And the 16-valve 4-banger just loved to be revved high. If I remember correctly, redline was at around 7500 rpms, and the engine would fairly roar in my ears at anything above 4000. What a fun, fun car! With near-perfect weight distribution, interstate on and off ramps were shear joy. Before driving an MR-2, I thought my '81 RX-7 was a great handling car, and it was, but the MR-2 was just that much better.
Peg C. on February 08, 2009 at 07:47 AM
The skidpad rating was high, .85. It was a LOT of fun driving on hilly or swoopy roads banked the wrong way (Sunset Blvd. is a good one), and banked correctly I thought I could die happily if it did take flight. I tried hard to achieve liftoff and managed a few times. Never felt a car corner like that since. The cabin was the perfect size for simply sick sound and when new, you could not even hear the car running at idle. It's only fault was the low torque below 3,000 RPM but above that it truly was a pocket rocket. Total cop magnet. I'd give anything to have it again.
My hubby, who is tall, had no problems fitting in it and immediately loved it as much as I did. It was a very sad day when we finally had to give it up. It was the steering rack issue. When we did get rid of it, we had a highly customized 1986 black Porsche Turbo. That was fun but it was not the same, and every repair was over $2K. The MR2 (except for the seat issue and occasional brakes and tires) cost virtually nothing to maintain. It also was an absolute snowplow here in the NE after we slapped winter tires on it. It would plow through 8" like nothing. Crazy.
grlzjustwant2havefun on February 08, 2009 at 09:20 AM
I found this thread via Instapundit.
My 1st Car...........ohhhhhhhhh
I was driving down the road saw 1 coming the other way - WHAT WAS THAT???!!!
Dealer demo - 5600 miles, champagne, black leather interior.......
Now-hubby called it the Pocket Rocket....
He still sez I never drove it properly - gee I only got it up to 110 miles..........
IIRC, had the best shift outside the Porsche at the time.........
There were times I totally skipped 2nd & 3rd gear............
I even kind of submarined it once.........
I'm short, and I never had a problem seeing over the steering wheel -
Hated the re-design..........
LOVED this car - but impractical for Chicago winters........
just sayin' on February 08, 2009 at 10:37 AM
1st gen MR2 was a good, reliable car, but why settle for bland white rice when you can have zesty Italian? I've owned both and the Fiat X1/9 wins hands down.
Ben on February 08, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I have 3 MR2s right now - two '86 NAs an 89 SCC (mine). Nothing can compare as far as performance for th $$$, at least not for a daily driver that will last forever. The Gearing on the NAs is lower so they accelerate well even with modest power, though spin the motor pretty fast at reasonable hiway speed. The SCC has taller gears (due to nearly twice the torque). An 11 out of 10 on the Awesome scale (that is what the AW11 model designation means, right?) With a tad bit of fiddling durring overhaul and a tad more boost we get a bit over 200HP which gives acceptable HP/weight for a daily driver that will go 200,000 miles between overhauls. I can get well over 30MPG around town if I stay off the boost, but since we live on a twisty mountain road, what is the point of that? Still 25-28MPG is normal for my mix of 'on it' and 'on it more' driving, over 30 when I comute partly on the hieway. A friend told me he got 40MPG once when be borrowed the car for a hiway drive by keeping near the 65MPH posted limit. For a car that puts a grin on your face doing it, that's true economy.
My SCC is a bit of handful on rainy days. The stock width tires were too easy to smoke in the dry so we have 205s on it, which work great in the dry but are a bit floaty for a 2000# car in the rain. If I lived further north and didn't have other vehicles, I'd have a set of 185s for winter.
These are soo cool that Jay Leno has one (though he swaped in a bigger engine): http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/your_garage/cars/5312.shtml#imganchor
As for the guy needing a steering rack: they made so many of the NAs that finding parts hasn't been too bad out here in CA, although I've not seen a worn out rack. My first NA has over 250K on the motor and still runs strong and passes smog. Just get's it's oil changed regularly and scheduled PM. It's a friggin Toyota, after all.
To the comments about "impractical", like I said this is my daily driver. My Wife's NA was her daily driver when she's alone and she can fit a weeks worth of groceries (family of 4) in the rear trunk which is exactly the right size for grocery bags. Compared with the newer MR2s it's an SUV :%). Yeah, we have a late model Camary too...