That recently cultivated sparkler is the Scion tC, a sporty hatchback comprising a catalog of standard features that should frighten the competition. Luckily, Scion-er, Toyota-has been holding in its Japanese mine a diamond in the rough, one whose pressure cooker produced a gem of similar vein nearly two decades ago. Sure, they're affordable, practical, and entertaining, but they're not exactly the small cars we leadfeet clamor to redline. Since its debut last year, Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand hasn't offered us much in the form of jewels, lest you believe the doorstop xA and the toolbox xB to be of the precious variety. It's no surprise, then, that we labeled the GT-S "an excellent, well-rounded little GT" that was "as playfully satisfying as anything we've recently driven." Our conclusion: "It's no wonder the Japanese have been keeping such little jewels to themselves." A Chevy Camaro Berlinetta needed 10.0 seconds to reach 60 and a Nissan 300ZX required 9.2. Our test GT-S went from 0 to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds and reached a top speed of 113 mph-results we referred to as "hardly shabby."Īlthough those numbers would be "hardly acceptable" today, back then they made us take notice. It also came with rear disc brakes instead of drums, a high-performance 14-inch wheel-and-tire package, and a firm sport suspension. Chief among its list of attributes was the new 4A-GE engine-a 1.6-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve beauty that put out 112 horsepower and 97 pound-feet of torque. That hatchback was new for the 1985 model year and promised big excitement in a small package. Just a month shy of 20 years ago, in September 1984, we got our hands on Toyota's latest and greatest pocket rocket, the Corolla GT-S.
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