The 1968 Toyota Corolla was the first to be sold in the United States, although it had been selling in Japan since 1966. The beauty of the early Corolla was in its simplicity. It was not a sophisticated car, but that also meant there were few things that could go wrong. The 1968 Corolla was very small and not particularly stylish. The 1968 Corolla was available as a two-door coupe, a four-door sedan or a two-door wagon.

The 1968 Corolla came with a four cylinder, 1.1 liter 60 horsepower engine. The only option for the transmission was a four-speed manual.

Toyota hoped that the 1968 Corolla would prove to Americans that Japanese cars were not of inferior quality compared to American-made cars. However, the 1968 Corolla proved to be too small and underpowered for US drivers, and sales were slow until the Corolla was redesigned a couple of years later.