Calling all Toyota Carina owners

Do you own a Toyota Carina E? If so, then the Japanese car maker wants you to get in touch.

Toyota Carina E

That’s because they are trying to track down the earliest surviving Carina E which was built in Britain when Toyota opened its factory in Burnaston, Derbyshire, in December 1992.

Incredibly, the request isn’t that unusual.  It’s because of Toyota’s commitment to quality and reliability that there are still a huge number of the cars still on the road today.

Indeed, DVLA records show that some 17,000 Carina models built between 1992 and 1997 are still in regular use.

To mark that achievement, Toyota has launched a competition offering owners and drivers of the UK’s oldest, British-built Toyotas a chance to get behind the wheel of their newest motor – the all-new Auris to be launched in December.

Anyone spotting a K-plate Carina E is being urged to let the owner know about the search, perhaps by simply putting a note on the windscreen telling them that Toyota would like them to get in touch.

To let Toyota know about the car, the owner/driver’s name, address and contact details should be emailed to Toyota at [email protected].
Owners of the oldest examples found will be invited to tell their car’s story and have it photographed, and will have the chance to win use of a new Auris for a week.

The British-built models are something of a success story for Toyota. By 1993, the Carina E was in full-scale production at Burnaston, beginning a long-line of saloon and hatchback production that continues today with Avensis and new Auris and Auris Hybrid.

The factory’s output makes a significant contribution to the current prosperity of the UK’s  automotive industry: last year Burnaston produced more than 128,000 vehicles, 80 per cent of which were sent for export to Europe and other world markets.