The Toyota Corolla turns 60 this year, and the company is marking the occasion with 60th Anniversary versions of the European-built Hatchback, Touring Sports and Sedan. Each gets exclusive paint, new 17-inch alloy wheels, commemorative badging and a higher standard specification. Toyota says more than 57 million Corollas have been sold worldwide since 1966, making it the best-selling car in history. Orders are open now, with first deliveries from the end of October.
Six decades after the first Corolla appeared, Toyota is giving its longest-running nameplate a commemorative send-off in Europe. Three body styles built on the continent — the Hatchback, the Touring Sports estate and the Sedan — are being offered as limited 60th Anniversary editions, distinguished by their own paint colours, styling details and equipment.
Six decades and 57 million cars
Toyota says more than 57 million Corollas have been sold since the original arrived in 1966, a figure that keeps it comfortably ahead of any other single nameplate. The company traces that longevity back to the brief set for the first car: a well-built, versatile family car at an affordable price. Twelve generations later, the Corolla is built at 12 plants worldwide and sold in 150 countries and regions.
Europe has been part of the story since 1967, and the model has been produced locally for more than three decades. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey began building the seventh-generation car in 1994, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK followed in 1998. Both plants still supply the region, which is why the anniversary editions are limited to the European-built body styles.
What sets the anniversary cars apart
The Hatchback and Touring Sports are the easiest to spot. Both wear an exclusive New Boreal Blue metallic finish in a bi-tone layout, with the roof and pillars picked out in Night Sky Black. They also get new 10-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels in a contrasting matt and machined finish, along with chromed black wheel nuts.
The detailing runs across the body: matt silver garnishes on the lower front bumper and side sills, dark-plated fog light surrounds, and dark-plated garnishes on the back door and rear bumper corners. The Touring Sports adds a further matt silver highlight on the lower rear bumper. Both cars carry matt silver 60th Anniversary decals along the lower edge of the rear doors.
The Sedan takes a slightly different route with its own Lunar Sky Blue paint, but otherwise shares the 17-inch wheels, garnish details, anniversary badging, scuff plates and carpet mats. It also gains a matt silver strip along the bottom edge of the boot lid. Buyers who want something more restrained can choose Platinum White Pearl premium paint or Ash Grey metallic instead.
Inside, all three versions get matt silver scuff plates carrying the 60th Anniversary logo, plus black textile carpet mats front and rear with matching matt silver inserts.
Hybrid power and standard equipment
Mechanically, the anniversary cars follow the rest of the range. The Corolla uses Toyota’s fifth-generation hybrid system, offered in the Hatchback and Touring Sports as either a 1.8-litre unit with 140 DIN hp or a 2.0-litre with 178 DIN hp for buyers after a sportier character. The Sedan is 1.8-litre only.
Standard equipment across the range includes a customisable 12.3-inch digital instrument display and the Toyota Smart Connect+ multimedia system with a 10.5-inch touchscreen, cloud-based navigation with live traffic data and an embedded route planner.
Safety is covered by the Toyota T-Mate package, which bundles Toyota Safety Sense systems as standard: a Pre-Collision System with Intersection Collision Avoidance, Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert, Lane Trace Assist, Emergency Steering Assist and Road Sign Assist. Toyota says new and improved safety and multimedia functions are delivered over the air.
What it means for buyers
Anniversary editions rarely change the driving experience, and this one is no exception — the hardware is unchanged. What buyers get is a specific colour and trim combination that will not be part of the regular catalogue, on a model that remains one of the few conventional hybrid family cars still competing directly against a growing field of plug-in and fully electric rivals in Europe. For the Touring Sports in particular, the estate body style is an increasingly rare option in the compact class.
Toyota has not published prices or production volumes for the 60th Anniversary models.
Facts: Toyota Corolla 60th Anniversary
- Body styles: Hatchback, Touring Sports, Sedan (all European-built)
- Powertrain: Fifth-generation Toyota hybrid
- Hatchback and Touring Sports: 1.8-litre with 140 DIN hp, or 2.0-litre with 178 DIN hp
- Sedan: 1.8-litre only
- Exclusive paint: New Boreal Blue metallic with Night Sky Black roof (Hatchback and Touring Sports); Lunar Sky Blue (Sedan)
- Other colours: Platinum White Pearl premium, Ash Grey metallic
- Wheels: 10-spoke 17-inch alloys, matt and machined finish
- Displays: 12.3-inch driver’s display, 10.5-inch touchscreen with Toyota Smart Connect+
- Price: Not stated
- Availability: Order books open now; deliveries from the end of October
Orders for the 60th Anniversary Corolla are open now, with the first cars reaching customers from the end of October.
Source: newsroom.toyota.eu