Car Week silver edition is upon us, time for a Tomica. I suspect some of my models aren’t the most relevant to younger collectors, but this car has plenty of fans even 30+ years later. Today we examine a vehicle that is a legend for many. This is Tomica 78-4, the Toyota Corolla Levin GTV. This casting entered the range in October 1983, and various forms of this car have been made by Tomica since. Tomica was still at a high point in the early 80s, and this casting proves it:
Everyone probably has some familiarity with this car, either from when it was new, via Initial D type animated films, or the driftbro scene. This Tomica version of an AE86 is nothing short of excellent, with fine casting lines in abundance, spot-on proportions, and realistic “GTV Twin Cam 16" tampos on the door. Scale is a claimed 1:61, likely accurate, we can round up to 1:64 for Car Week. As expected, this casting has the crisp glazing, snappy door action, and springy suspension we all know and love from Tomica. From all angles, one can see this is a quality item bridging the gap between toy and scale model:
Doors open to reveal a detailed interior and accurate steering wheel:
Front and rear have similar quality. This was an era when silver plastic appears to have replaced light lenses and was often used for grilles, but it doesn’t detract. The cast-in “Levin” nameplate on the grille, and the presence of heating elements in the rear windshield and a rear windshield wiper add realism:
This was an era when bases seemed to rotate between metal and plastic. This one is metal, which adds heft, and contains ample detail:
This example is lucky enough to live in its nice original black box:
I am definitely glad to have this in my collection. I am not really into the animation or drift aspect of this car, but I like it in stock form, maybe on wheels as shown on the box. This casting exists in a few variations, including a couple of racing models, and looks good in silver. There’s also a period Tomica model of a notchback Trueno version, which I have yet to buy - I always find them in yellow, and I want red or blue. This remains a popular casting 30+ years later, and has been re-issued numerous times, but this is the original:
It’s not easy to find one of these that hasn’t been modified, as they have attracted a not exactly preservationist element for a long time. Here are a couple that are only mildly messed with, from carontrack.com and a similar looking Trueno from pinterest, along with period sales literature from pinterest and flikr:
