Badge No. 001 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition Will Be Sold For A Good Cause

Oct. 14, 2023 8:35 PM ET byRex Sanchez Auctions /Comments

The proceeds will be donated to El Monte Schools and Vision to Learn.

While somedealerships seem to hold offthe Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition units due to limited production numbers, one will find its way to auction courtesy of Longo Toyota, the brand's largest dealership. The best part is that the sale will bring joy to an enthusiast, and proceeds will also be donated to charity.

El Monte Schools will be one of the recipients of the proceeds. Servicing approximately 15,000 students, the El Monte City School District and El Monte Union have a demography representing more than 20 different language backgrounds in the eastern part of Los Angeles County. The sales from the hot hatch's米ost extreme editionwill help create STEAM labs and maker spaces for the students.

"Longo Toyota has long been a proud supporter of our community and we are thrilled we can put 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this monumental vehicle back into the community to serve our students in El Monte," said Doug Eroh, president and general manager of Longo Toyota.

Compared to the standardToyota GR Corolla, the Morizo Edition has performance-oriented upgrades, such as a lighter body and an exclusive close-ratio intelligent manual transmission with shorter differential gears. The 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-three - the same one found in thesmaller GR Yaris- still makes 300 horsepower, but the torque is bumped from 273 lb-ft to 295 lb-ft.

Toyota only produced 200 examples - 181 of which are said to be sold already. Since a Toyota spokesperson said four are unavailable for sale, should be just 15 left. That makes it difficult to own one, andToyota Canada even held an auditionfor prospective buyers last year.

Interested individuals who might've not reserved a slot before can tune in to the upcoming auction hosted by Bring A Trailer. The digital auction platform will start bidding for the GR Corolla (with badge no. #001) on October 18 and run until October 24.

Another firm that will benefit from the sales will be Vision to Learn. It is a non-profit organization that provides eye exams and glasses at no charge to students from low-income communities in the US.

"Our mission at Vision to Learn is to make sure every child in every school, everywhere in the country, has the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life," said Austin Beutner, founder and chairman of Vision to Learn. "We're grateful to the team at Longo Toyota for their support of Vision to Learn and the children in El Monte Public Schools."