Infographic: History of the Toyota Corolla

Our ‘History of' series of infographics chart the development of some of the most popular and iconic cars in the world. Toyota's Corolla now becomes the ninth car to feature in this series. To date we’ve covered the Nissan Skyline, BMW 3 Series, Porsche 911, Subaru Impreza, Honda Civic, Ford Escort, Volkswagen Golf and Mitsubishi Evo. A Corolla? In with Evos, 911s and Beemers? Seriously? Yes, and 'seriously' is a pretty good way to put it because the Corolla has always been something of a serious car. But serious or not, the Corolla is the one car the world wanted more than any other, and still does. More than 40 million have been sold globally since it was first introduced and that makes it the best-selling nameplate in the history of the car. Everyone’s owned one or knows someone who has and the Corolla’s reliability is legendary. It’s no joke to say that the Corolla’s solidity and ease of use has been the rock upon which Toyota’s reputation has been built, and that if nothing else earns it a place on our list of icons. There have been more exciting Corollas, of course. The famed AE86 Corolla coupé has long been the favoured chariot of drift kings and rally fans alike, while the World Rally Championship saw 300hp Corollas in action on fast forest stages, on Swedish ice and snow and on twisting tarmac the world over. Think the Corolla is just about being dull and sensible? Think again… It’s also a peculiarly Irish success story. Other European nations can, largely, take or leave the Corolla but we’ve taken it to our hearts in a big way. It’s never been out of the top-ten sellers’ list and has frequently topped it and, in the eighties, helped Ireland’s Toyota importer reach a significant milestone – we were the first market, outside of Japan, where Toyota became the best-selling brand.