automatic transmission was offered. The interior only came in black, with reclining front bucket seats. The steering wheel matched the one used in the 2000GT, but the outer rim was wood grained plastic. It was Toyota's answer to the Isuzu Bellet GT, the Nissan Bluebird SSS and the Prince Skyline 2000GTB. While it used the Corona hardtop coupé body, it was not known as the Corona 1600GT, sharing a naming convention to the larger 2000GT. It inspired future generations of performance oriented coupes and sports cars offered, to begin with the Crown hardtop coupé in October 1968, the Corona Mark II GSS in 1970, the Celica GT, the Carina GT and the Toyota Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno later in 1972, while a 2.0 liter DOHC engine continued to be offered in subsequent Corona GT coupés until 1983. On the front fenders, grilles were installed, and the inverted triangle found on the grille of the 2000GT is also installed on the 1600GT's grille. Foreign assembly The Corona was the first Toyota assembled in New Zealand, from February 1967 at Steel Brothers' Motor Assemblies in Christchurch. It was also built by Shinjin Motor in South Korea from 1966 until 1972. Shinjin Motor was a predecessor to Daewoo and soon switched to assembling General Motors products. The Corona was also assembled by Australian Motor Industries in Melbourne, with the 12R engine. South African assemblies commenced in 1966, with the car reaching a fifteenth position on the 1967 sales charts. Corona Mark II (T60, T70; 1968) September 1968 saw the release of a larger model called the Corona Mark II. It was a slightly larger vehicle than the Corona with a higher level of equipment offered at the time, sharing some of the features of the larger Crown, but taking the top position at Toyopet Store locations. The Corona Mark II is longer, at over the Corona's length of for the sedan, and the coupe, with a width of in comparison to for the sedan and coupe. The height of the Mark II is lower at over for the sedan, but higher at for the coupé. After 1972, this was spun off as a separate platform, eventually dispensing with the "Corona" part of the name. Fourth generation (T80, T90; 1970) The T80 series Corona was introduced February 1970 and was a complete redesign, and was developed on a separate platform from the Toyota