The 5-speed manual gearbox is great and even after 260,000km, it clicks into every gear with a reassuring clack. While I’m unlikely to beat any modern car in a drag race, the light, nifty nature of the car makes me feel comfortable negotiating rapid-action roundabouts or merging into fast-flowing traffic. You get a little of the go-kart feel which was much more prevalent in cars of this era than it is now. In fact, the light weight of the vehicle makes it actually fun. Powered by a 1.3L naturally aspirated four producing 55kw and 112nm, it’s not exactly fast – although it feels far niftier due to its sub-1 tonne kerb weight. It’s one of Toyota’s more original small car entries – designed just for the use case I’m employing – ferrying passengers from A to B without all the fuss. The Starlet predates the Yaris, and the Echo before that. I briefly considered a motorbike for my commute, so in comparison, the Starlet is already safer and more pleasurable in poor weather than any two-wheeled options – and I don’t plan to use it beyond my traversing to and from work or the odd shopping trip. Sure, I’m missing out on a bunch of safety gear – but that’s a call I just have to make. Whilst I was tempted to look at budget new car options such as the brilliantly equipped and priced Kia Picanto, I ended up saving my pennies and investing $1,500 big ones in the 98 Starlet. I bought this car purely as a run-about to get me to work and home – a 20-minute commute across the northern suburbs of Brisbane. You find yourself smiling, enjoying the drive – without even quite knowing why. A raw, engaging, back-to-the-90’s type vibe. Sure – I enjoy driving our other family car with its turbo engine, AEB and radar cruise control – but the Starlet is a different type of drive. Call me nostalgic or just out of touch, but there’s something about this car that makes it a pleasure to drive. Everything is brilliantly manual (including the gearbox on this model) – and it’s fantastic. You change gears yourself, wind up the windows yourself, turn on the headlights yourself and roll backwards on hill starts if you’re not careful. No start/stop, no Bluetooth, no automatic headlights, nothing much of anything, really. There’s no power steering, no power windows, no power assisted brakes or stability control. Yes, it has air-conditioning (which is almost mandatory in our Australian climate, especially in northern states), airbags and ABS – but that’s where the feature list ends. The 1998 Toyota Starlet (manual) is just that simple and refreshing. In a world of ever-increasing gadgets and complexity - it's a surprising breath of fresh air to step into a car with almost none of the mod-cons. There's something to be said about simplicity.
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