Originally Posted by MudHippy

After some exhaustive research, I've been enlightened as to what SR-5 truly does, or rather did, stand for. Are you ready? You're sure? This is pretty ground-breaking monumental stuff we're talking here. I mean this has been questioned for decades with no real solid proof as to what it really did/does stand for. O.k., if you insist...hold on tight!

Alrighty then, here we go:

In 1974 when the first SR-5 vehicle was introduced, the Corolla SR-5, SR-5 was refered to as "the double driving system". Which was meant to define the dual combining of a sports car's characteristics with those of a "money-saving" car into a single car having attributes enabling it to fulfill the rolls of both car types(best of both worlds concept). Sporty in the sense of it being a 2-door coupe with bucket seats, a simulated wood grain instrument panel/console trim/steering wheel/shift knob, a "peppy" 1588cc hemi-head engine, a 5-speed manual transmission, wider radial tires, fender flares, a firmer MacPherson strut suspension than the other Corolla models(except the S-5), an anti-sway bar, power front disc brakes, an 8000 rpm tachometer, racing stripes(yes, racing stripes!), and an AM radio as standard equipment(optional for all other models except the S-5). Money-saving in the sense that 5th gear provided an overdrive that would save you money in gas and wear on the engine(lowering engine rpm reduces wear + lowering engine rpm vs. vehicle/wheel speed increases fuel economy). There was also another sporty model Corolla produced that year, "the less expensive version of the double driving system" dubbed the Corolla S-5. Which was basically the same vehicle as the SR-5 minus the wider tires, fender flares, and the racing stripes(though it did have "sporty 5-speed tape stripes"). The S-5 model was discontinued after it's first year however, to be replaced by the Deluxe model in 1975.

And, of course, there was the not-so-sporty version of the Corolla SR-5 and S-5, the Corolla 1600 Coupe. The 1600 Coupe being, essentially, the "base model" for the SR-5 and S-5 option packages. So it's probably more accurate to say that the SR-5 and S-5 were the sportier(real word) versions of the 1600 Coupe. Since it was basically the same vehicle as either, minus the 5-speed manual transmission, wider radial tires, fender flares, firmer MacPherson strut suspension, anti-sway bar, power front disc brakes, 8000 rpm tachometer, racing stripes/tape stripes, and AM radio(as standard equipment). Four other Corolla models were also available in 1974, the 1600 2-Door Sedan, 1600 4-Door Sedan, 1600 Wagon, and the 1200 2-Door Sedan.

So what did SR-5 originally stand for then? You guessed it, S = Sport model, R = Racing stripes, 5 = 5-speed manual transmission. And it was originally hypenated like that too.

For proof of this see the 1974 brochure for the Corolla found here: http://www.toyotareference.com/corolla/1971-1974

After 1980, when it was first applied to 4WD pickups, it didn't necessarily mean many of those things(even for Corollas). And could mean other things, like mag/mag-type wheels, a better than standard sound system, and tinted glass. It could also mean a 2WD truck with a soft-ride rear suspension. Though the racing stripes were still a part of the package, there were no suspension, braking system, or other performance differences between 4WD pickup/4Runner models(such as the Regular/Standard, Standard Turbo, and Deluxe). Some of the other models came with stripes too, just not the racing-style found on SR5s. So the only things really "sporty" about it, besides the racing-style stripes, would be the 8000 rpm tachometer, a couple of other extra gauges, mag/mag-type wheels, tinted glass, and bucket seats. And from 1980 onward, the 5 speed manual transmission was no longer a necessary inclusion in the SR-5 package, a 4 speed automatic transmission with 4th gear overdrive also fit the bill. It also lost it's hyphen and became "SR5" instead of "SR-5" in 1981.