Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition track special limited to 25 cars for now
There will initially be just 25 examples of the most expensive Toyota Corolla ever sold in Australia, the two-seat GR Morizo Edition hot hatch. But Toyota has left the door open to another production run.
The most expensive Toyota Corolla ever sold in Australia – the two-seat Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition hot hatch – could get a second production run after the initial batch of 25 cars is sold.
Toyota Australia says it has received 5500 expressions of interest for the Morizo Edition – the stripped-out, track-focused version of the new hot hatch – and the regular, five-seat GR Corolla GTS combined.
Australia will initially get 25 examples of the Morizo Edition over the next 12 months – out of a global production run of a few hundred cars for the first year – and 700 of the standard GTS.
However – just as the GR Corolla GTS allocation was boosted from 500 to 700 before orders opened – Toyota Australia has not ruled out a second allocation of Morizo Editions in the future, beyond the initial 25.
“At the moment we’re committing to an allocation of 25 cars for Australia. That’s not to say that there won’t be further allocation, but at the moment we’re just committing to 25 units,” a Toyota Australia spokesperson told Drive this week.
The company has previously suggested the Morizo would not be a limited-edition model.
Toyota says dealers will be in charge of allocating GR Corolla Morizo Editions to customers, through the same process as the regular GTS model.
This means buyers will be asked to complete a questionnaire upon expressing their interest in the car, detailing their past vehicle ownership history, the car’s intended use, membership in any racing clubs, and whether they’re a member of Toyota’s GR Club.
The Japanese car giant says the allocation process – which has already begun – is intended to weed out opportunistic ‘speculators’ and re-sellers looking to buy and ‘flip’ the in-demand cars for a profit, and get the cars in the hands of true motoring enthusiasts.
However, within weeks of the first deliveries – and despite the unprecedented measures – the first GR Corollas had come up for auction at inflated prices.
The flagship variant of the GR Corolla line-up costs $77,800 before on-road costs, some $15,500 more than the regular GTS variant.
It adds 18-inch forged-alloy BBS wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, a carbon-fibre roof panel, monotube shock absorbers, different front seats, and the deletion of the rear seats.
The turbo 1.6-litre engine was also tuned to extract an extra 30Nm – now 221kW and 400Nm – while unique gear ratios help channel the extra output to the ground.
Also removed is the wireless phone charger, parking sensors, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, satellite navigation, and eight-speaker stereo system (only two speakers remain).
The changes are said to combine for a 30kg weight saving compared to the regular GR Corolla GTS.
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