Dramatic sights, sounds and tastes helped introduce the strikingly re-styled 11th generation Toyota Corolla at a packed celebration inside Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. on Thursday night.
More than 750 consumers, journalists and Toyota guests took in a
captivating theatrical performance by Fuerza Bruta, fog clouds from
celebrity chef Richard Blais’s liquid nitrogen cocktails, and the
capstone reveal of the 2014 Corolla lowered from the rafters with a
surprise visit from comedian Adam Carolla.
The multi-sensory experiences celebrated an iconic compact vehicle with
nearly 50 years of success and almost 40 million global sales. The
sleeker, more advanced 2014 Corolla features chiseled, modern character
lines, a more premium interior, improved fuel economy and an enhanced
driving performance. Each trim level (L, LE, LE Eco, and S) will offer a
range of popular features designed to delight current Toyota customers
and attract new, youthful buyers.
“Full of surprises and unexpected features, this global reveal event
captured the new era and elevated experience of the redesigned Corolla,”
said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager, Toyota
Division. “As our second best-selling vehicle and a familiar sight on
American roadways, the new Corolla retains its trusted quality and
reliability while adding an exciting new look and energy.”
At the beginning of the evening, guests sampled innovative culinary
creations including roasted pork belly with licorice grits and pickled
peaches from Blais’s custom menu. Blais, who recently published his
first cookbook, Try This at Home, is perhaps best known from
his appearance on Season 4 of Bravo’s hit show “Top Chef” and his
winning run on “Top Chef All-Stars,” for which he received his own
Corolla among other prizes. Partnering with Los Angeles gourmet catering
company Along Came Mary, Blais prepared items in front of guests,
including the fog-inducing liquid nitrogen margaritas.
After tasting from each culinary station, guests were ushered into a
newly revealed second space where the first of three viscerally
stimulating Fuerza Bruta acts began. Fuerza Bruta (“brute force” in
Spanish) is a critically acclaimed, live experience show first founded
in Argentina then introduced in New York City in 2007. Elevated above
the guests, some in tanks of water, the performers put on a 30-minute,
high-energy acrobatic show.
As a finale to the spectacular performance, a 2014 Corolla descended
from the ceiling while three additional new Corollas appeared from a
hidden space, surprising and delighting guests with their new design.
With a new longer wheelbase and roomier premium interior, the new
Corolla offers a collection of enhanced features including standard LED
headlamps and Bluetooth® connectivity, along with available touchscreen audio, backup monitor, Smart Key, paddle shifters and Entune®, Toyota’s multimedia app suite.
During Fay’s brief remarks about the Corolla, car enthusiast and
comedian Carolla interrupted from the side of the stage and joined to
joke about being the “oldest Corolla in the room,” referring the
similarities of the vehicle name and the comedian’s own last name .
Carolla further described growing up in a working class community in the
1970s and 1980s and the value of the Corolla to many friends and
families. Representing that era was a 1969 Corolla, from the Toyota
Museum in Torrance, Calif. In addition, three other vintage Corollas
from the museum were on display, including models from 1971, 1983 and
1987.
At the conclusion of the presentation, DJs The Hood Internet kicked off
music while guests were encouraged to explore and view the 2014 Corolla
models.
Courtesy of Toyota Newsroom
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