The people will survive. In their environment. The — Of this Toyota. It's gotta' Mazda mill. The better to go fast. You could have a Corona, $3,000 deposit. . .

Yesterday, you all thought that fat wasn't phat, and gave the rolly-polly a stinging 83% Crack Pipe rebuke for its $7,000 price tag. Today, we've got another orange car to contemplate. It's transplant Friday, and we're going to crack open a Corona.

Are you large and in-charge? Well, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has a tubby two-door that will let you…

Introduced in 1964, the RT40 - or shovel nose - Corona was the first car to make Toyota a serious competitor in the global car market. Available in coupe, sedan and wagon models, the squared-off mid-sizer provided a lot of content in a reliable and fugal package. Its R4 four cylinder put out an adequate 90 horsepower, and the available toyoglide meant either you didn't have to row your own, or that intimate moments could be made more enjoyable.

This '69 has neither of those, but your intimate moments with it may be pretty enjoyable, none the less. For your $3,000 you're getting a drivetrain from Hiroshima rather than Aichi, and the engine doesn't reciprocate, instead it goes hummmmmmm.

The Mazda is the most common rotary engine in the world. Its tiny 1308 displacement belies the power it is capable of producing, and was employed in Mazda's largish cars- the RX5, Cosmo, and the Porsche-chasing RX7. Dropped into this Corona, it has a lot less metal to move as the car has a curb weight of about 2,100 lbs. The Mazda 5-speed and RX5 wheels enhance the gender change from lady toyota to macho mazda, with the only weak link appearing to be the delicate rearend. But isn't that always the case?

Here's an example of an engine we couldn't really include in the Workhorse Engine of the Day…

The car has a number of other modifications that may or may not increase your valuation of the beast. The gutted interior, acura seats, and lack of side glass will either appeal to your sense of speed over comfort, or may make you think it's just a half-assed weekend hooner.

So what do you think about a hummer and a corona? Is that a combo worth $3,000? Or is the seller a couple bottles shy of a six-pack for asking that?

You decide!

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