After being spotted several times driving expensive sports cars in the first 3 months of 2024, recently, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu has chosen a JDM car to accompany him this morning, on March 15th, 2024.
This car is a 1984 Toyota Starlet, a relatively unfamiliar model to young car enthusiasts, but for JDM enthusiasts, it is quite interesting. It’s no wonder that the Toyota Starlet has suddenly become famous and has a special attraction to the media in the country, as it was bought by the leading car collector in Vietnam and not kept in the garage but driven on the road.
The Starlet is a small car model produced by Toyota from 1973 to 1999, replacing the Publica but still keeping the “P” code and Publica’s generation numbering. The first generation of Starlet was sold as Publica Starlet in some markets. In Japan, it was only available through Toyota Corolla Store dealers. It was the first subcompact car offered by a Japanese automaker with high-performance variants.
The Toyota Starlet is available in 5 generations, and Mr. Vu’s car belongs to the 3rd generation, produced from 1980. In this generation, they call it P70. It was produced in October 1984, marking the first time the Starlet switched to front-wheel drive, which is a common format for cars of this size.
Hatchback and sedan versions of the car were provided, and there was also a three-door van for commercial purposes in many markets. The 12-valve 1E and 2E engines replaced the older K-series engines. Japan’s expanded lineup included Standard, CD-L, DX, DX-A, Soleil, Soleil-L, XL, XL-Lisse, SE, Si, Si Limited, Ri, Turbo R, and Turbo S, although only a 1.0-liter version was available for export.
The turbocharged models were equipped with a 2E-TELU engine and Toyota’s active suspension technology called TEMS. Ri and Turbo R were lightweight models designed for sports racing.
For the export market, the Starlet 70 series was offered in the form of 1.0 Standard, 1.0 DX, 1.0 XL, 1.0 XL Lisse, 1.3 DX, 1.3 XL, 1.3 S, and 1.3 SE. The Si Limited export version was basically an XL or 1.3 S with front and rear spoilers, sporty black-red interior, multi-point fuel injection, and special 2-tone black-silver or white exterior colors.
The first Starlets assembled outside of Japan were the 1985 1.0 XL models produced in Indonesia. A year later, the 1.3-liter version was introduced to the production line there.
The Starlets produced in Indonesia only had 5-door versions with a carburetor, 4-speed manual transmission, and were offered in XL, SE, Lisse, and Si Limited trims.
A minor change was made to the Japanese models in 1987 with a new front end, taillights, larger bumpers, and modified interior. The Starlets produced in Indonesia received these minor changes in 1988, while the models for the general and European markets still retained the older design.
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