Corolla T Sport vs. New Mini

February 12, 2003

Hi everybody,

Did anybody read the review by "design guru" Stephen Bailey in the Torygraph on Saturday? A nice review of two very good cars at totally opposite ends of the design spectrum.

A couple of friendly quotes about the Corolla,

"It is not a specially fine-looking car in that you do not gasp at its gorgeous curves or sensitive exterior details, but it has a solid presence and causes no immediate offence in the aesthetics department. Just as they say it should take you 20 minutes to before you realise a gentleman is well-dressed, so it is with the Corolla. It takes a while to appreciate its understated handsomeness."

"Inside, the Corolla T Sport is just great. Best friction-damped manual seat controls of any car in the world, lots of space, a perfect dash with nice restraint and no meretricious excess, patent back-lit main instruments, faultless fit and tasteful finishes."

Ok, I had to look up what meretricious meant. :-) Hard to believe he is talking about a Corolla! Shows how far Toyota have come. Mind you, with this kind of coverage we might as well enjoy the relative exclusivity of our cars now, because the world and his dog is going to get one in the next few years. :(

Cheers

Paul.