How do you turn a diminutive $23,000 Toyota hatchback into a $52,000 hatchback? Pretty simple…make it faster, and make it scarce. Last things first – with only 200 of these little race cars sold in the US, for one year only, there was more buzz from sales than even the three-cylinder motor. But Toyota generated $275 billion in revenue in 2023…this guy grossed, at best, $10 million in revenue. Why build the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition at all? Why buy it at all?
As I understand it, this is the GR Corolla Akio Toyoda built for himself, then let 199 other people buy. Morizo is Toyoda’s racing alter ego — the pseudonym he adopted in 2007 to run endurance races incognito; it is said borrowed from a shrub outside Toyota’s Japanese HQ — and he personally test-drove development mules as “Master Driver” before signing off on this spec: 300 hp, 295 lb-ft, a six-speed manual with shorter gearing, and 106 fewer pounds than the Circuit Edition, achieved mostly by deleting the rear seats entirely. It’s a two-seat hot hatch. This one has had one owner and an asking price of $50,998 — three dollars over MSRP, three years and 9,000 miles later.
There’s more to the Morizo than just weight savings. The 1.6-liter 3-banger makes 300 horsepower like the other GR Corollas, but with 22 more pound-feet of torque and shorter gearing, it rips to 60 in a half-second faster – 4.4 seconds by Car and Driver, about the same as most of the unicorns I’ve bought from CarMax, with a lot more pedigree. The Morizo also gets more of a track-tuned suspension, bracing instead of a rear seat to stiffen things up, and some brake duct works to stop more better. Skidpad was over 1g. I very much enjoyed the video here by Car and Driver when they flung the car around Virginia International Speedway as part of the annual hottest lap piece.
Not really sure I could justify dropping over fifty grand on even a 1 of 200 car, but on the practical side, we get Apple CarPlay, auto cruise control (even with three pedals), AWD, and a JBL audio system. A rally car with creature comforts. Skip MaxCare – the powertrain is still under warranty even though the three-year mark has been reached. The care is here, at the Dulles CarMax near me!
Stock No: 70188398 VIN: JTNABBAE4PA003391
