The is an automobile which was manufactured by Toyota from December 1970 to December 2001. It was introduced as a sedan counterpart of the Celica, with which it originally shared a platform. Later, it was realigned to the Corona platform, but retained its performance image, with distinctive bodywork and interior — aimed at the youth market and remaining exclusive to Japanese Toyota dealerships Toyota Store. It was replaced in Japan by the Toyota Allion in 2001 and succeeded in Europe by the Toyota Avensis. The inspiration for the name Carina came from the constellation Carina, sharing a naming inspiration with the Celica, which is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial". First generation (A10/A30; 1970–1977) The first-generation Carina was manufactured from December 1970, and sold at Toyota Store dealership channels in Japan, sharing its platform with the Toyota Celica sports coupe. Its European release took place in October 1971. Toyota was able to save development and tooling costs by building a family sedan and a sports car on the same platform and in the same factory. The Carina was a junior sedan and coupe to the larger Crown, and was similar sized to the Corona. Features included reclining seats with built-in head restraints, radio, clock, reversing lights and servo-assistance on the brakes. In 1971, the Carina 1600GT was introduced as an alternative to the Corona-based Toyota 1600GT, using a 2T-G type 1600 DOHC engine shared with the Celica GT. The Corona GT was exclusive to Toyopet Store locations, while the Carina 1600GT was exclusive to Toyota Store locations, and the Celica GT was exclusive to Toyota Corolla Store locations. The chassis code was A10, with A15, 17 and 18 being reserved for hardtop coupés. Excepting the anomalous RA16 hardtop, A16 and 19 were used on vans (utility wagons). Beginning in 1975, A30-series numbers were used for some hardtop coupés. The wagons/vans of the first generation were not regularly exported. Carina vans entered production in December 1975. The A10 Carina was also exported to the US, but its introduction coincided with the introduction of a 10% import duty and sales volumes were disappointing. Cars destined for export were increasingly switched towards other markets in Europe and elsewhere, and US exports stopped after only two years: instead the company progressed with plans to build car plants in the USA. The original model usually featured a choice of a