80sHERO: Steve Tercel.

So due to the absolutely raging success of the previous Instagram-tease-to-hooray-it's-everything post..

A look inside the 1986 AL25 Toyota Tercel (4WD SR5) spotted at a wrecker last weekend. Other than the already-nabbed upper off-road guages and gearknob, things are complete and original in here... and give a pretty good idea of just how cool a place it would've been 31years ago. Black/grey with wooly diagonal-design inserts, fabric-upper door trims, grab-handles on the quirky-looking bucket seats, and a strange toothy pattern on the roof..! A fun place to pedal the pedestrian 3A-C four... and hey, in 4WD mode (pulling that smaller lever between the seats to the rear) with what's effectively an oddly-gated 6spd manual..! This one was sadly quite clean (157,000km/100,000mi) and other than a bit of fade, sporting an interior that would've/could've/should've come up a treat. Yet unfortunately that ship has sailed. Hurts to see good original cars wrecked regardless, but when there are SO few left on the road..? Argh. #toyotaaustralia #amitoyota #toyota #teq #トヨタ #al25 #toyotatercel #tercel4wd #classictoyota #oldschooltoyota #3ac #japanesenostalgiccar #1986

..as mentioned in this morning's post: the 4WD Tercel's Z54F 'six speed' - an interestingly simple setup that uses a super-tall *true* first gear (available to select when the FWD-4WD lever is pulled to the rear) as a low range. #amitoyota #toyota #teq #トヨタ #al25 #al25g #toyotatercel #tercel4wd #sprintercarib #toyotasprinter #classictoyota #oldschooltoyota #3ac #z54f #japanesenostalgiccar #1986

1981 Soccer Bowl Champions? Notre Dame? Nondescript plain-white polo? I trio of I-don't-quite-think-they're-Japanese fellows "cheerfully encountering" an I'm-fairly-sure-that's-Japanese AL25 Toyota Sprinter Carib (that's the Japanese-market equivalent of yesterday's Tercel) in this colourful 1983 advert. Relevant yes, sure; but please, zoom manually... get a good look at the head-rest-less folded-seat relaxation.. and my god, that large-pattern plaid trim. What a place to be. #nasl #soccerbowl #notredame #toyota #teq #トヨタ #al25 #al25g #toyotatercel #tercel4wd #sprintercarib #itschocolateforbeatniks #toyotasprinter #classictoyota #oldschooltoyota #3ac #z54f #japanesenostalgiccar #1983

..let's do it again.
As mentioned in the posts above; I came across this little gem at the wreckers recently (mid-April, so already more than a month ago now) and HAD to have a good crawl over it. I very rarely see these things on the road, so given the chance for a really good look at an unmolested example? And a high-spec SR5 variant at that? Chuffed. I pounced..

So yes. Again. What is it..?
1986 AL25 Toyota Tercel 4WD SR5 - a world-market equivalent of the Japanese Sprinter Carib launched in 1982.
For Australia, this was the higher-specced model in a two-tier lineup (Deluxe, SR5) sold from late '83 through to its replacement's (the Corolla 4WD) introduction in late 1988. Toyota Australia never bothered with any other variation of these second-generation Tercels (what's essentially a smaller, front-driving Corolla, from a time when Corollas were rear-drive); with this model, this generation, the only time the name has ever appeared on the Australian market.

This particular 1986 AL25 Toyota Tercel 4WD SR5 looked painfully original, and was essentially complete when I came across it on this not-so-sunny Sunday. Plonked on its belly, waiting for its turn on the jerry steelie-stands..

A damn crime I tells ya! Look at that patina..

Seriously loving all the model-specific badging Toyota did on this model..

..and that was '4WD' exterior badge number four. Count them. Here? That's 'SR5' number three.

A cheerful-looking afro'd chap.
I sure know a lot more about thirty-year-old Japanese commuter vehicles than I do world religions..

..more and more of the nicely detailed, model-specific parts.

If the badging on the front and rear weren't enough, another "TOYOTA" on the outer side of these rear cargo-area boxes. Again.. I absolutely adore this stuff..

A view from the inside. Not sure what that little recess is for; but all of it.. that seemingly-unnecessary ribbing on the top there.. it's all fantastic. And done in plastics that've stood up to decades of Australian sun. Nicely done..

Recreating a view I'd always remembered from car magazines as a kid.

Fantastic fabric/colours. The great detailing continues - there's SO much to love in here..

..like those half-fabric door trims..

..and strange toothy-pattern in the headlining.

Toyota Air - NIPPONDENSO
Original Toyota air-conditioning decal on the glovebox.

Owner's manual and service booklet.

I don't know if it's a market-specific detail, but the inside cover of the service booklet always carries the original sale information.
Selling dealer was Castlemaine Toyota, which a quick Google shows is still there, on the same site. It's ~2hours drive north-west of where I took these photos all these years later. Not as brutally-close end-to-end as some other cars I've come across, but seeing local cars (original reg, books) always has be wondering if they'd ever even left the state..

Wandering around to the driver's side: a view of those tremendous Prelude-esque front seats..

..Honda's Prelude sure didn't have these grab-handle 'ears' though!

Toyota AM/FM/Cassette double-din unit with manual tuner and sideways-loading cassette.
Without scrolling through tens of thousands of photos on my phone, I think this may be the same/similar as units I've come across in the Tarago (Toyota Van) and Cressida..