There's all sorts of online "ruin porn" from the island, much of it centered on Nicosia Airport, which was abandoned in '74.
My primary interest, though, has always been what appears to be a parking garage filled with then-new 1974 Toyotas awaiting sale/delivery. This must have been owned by a local dealer or distributor, and as you can see here, it's filled with Corollas and Celicas that probably have mileage in the single-digits. (Unless they were actually driven for over 100,000 miles and then stored here as an insurance prank once the odometers rolled over, right?).
The climate has probably been kind to the bodies of these cars, and since they're in the shade, the interiors may be decent as well. But the engines are probably seized and will need some work. Rubber parts (tires and hoses) will surely need to be replaced. All of that is pretty cheap since these were simple cars that used many parts you can buy (generically) today.
While this isn't a cache like Peter Max's lost garage filled with Corvettes, it's still notable. Most 1970s Japanese cars rotted away by the mid-1980s due to metal that was un-rust-proofed. (Later in the decade, Toyota even signed-on with the rust-proofing mascot, Rusty Jones, to prove they knew how to make cars last).
I have a soft spot for the 1974 Corolla since it was our family's first car (my father bought it years before I was born). And even though I learned to drive on a different, far-more-modern Toyota, the first car I actually purchased with my own money was another 1974 Corolla. At that time, I was living in Chicago, didn't have much use for a fancy or expensive car, and I enjoyed zipping around, barefoot (pedals were too close together), all over the city, sometimes in the snow and in the dark (since I worked odd hours).
The second generation (1971-74) Corolla really put Toyota on the map, just as they were gaining on Volkswagen to become the Number Two foreign automaker in the U.S. Along with the Corona (boxy and meh) and Celica (sporty but too heavy and not nimble enough), the Corolla showed that Toyotas could be cheap and reliable. My father's Corolla rusted out by 1985. Mine, though, had been gotten a rudimentary splatter of black paint/tar underneath, and is probably still running around today (I foolishly sold it for reasons I won't go into). The Corolla was not unlike the Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colt, Datsun 510 and Opel Kadett: foreign cars that weighed about a ton and had around 100 hp, sporting ambitions and a slippery look. And due to low weight, they handled well -- often as well as their company's contemporary sports cars. (It's ironic that Ford's Cortina set the template for all this, and then they stopped importing it -- in favor of the Capri -- just when the other small, foreign cars began making inroads).
My Corolla -- like almost all of the 71-74 models left out there -- had been monkeyed with by some fool who wanted to "improve" the performance. He installed a Weber 32/36 carb, which never ran smoothly and couldn't stay in tune. This is apparently a popular upgrade for this model in the "ricer" community. Most of the current fans of these cars are Asian or Hispanic, and they've gotten the racist nickname "ricers" by all the old muscle car guys, since rice is a staple of the Asian and Hispanic diets. (These are the same old guys who sneer at my 1971 VW SuperBeetle during car shows, and look at me suspiciously, as I head off into the night with my wife for fun. Meanwhile, they get to sit around and stare at eachother's motionless vehicles, then drive home gingerly -- alone -- at no more than 35 mph. But I digress.)
The pic at the top of this post is of my actual '74 Corolla, when the previous owner had ridiculous-looking aftermarket wheels on it. I drove mine around with stock wheels, which was just fine. My father also drove his with stock wheels... and stock everything else! As I said, it was quick and nimble and I wish we still had it. It was fast enough, in fact, that when Car & Driver magazine needed a new car to compete in SCCA racing in 1974, they chose a Corolla (replacing an Opel Kadett, which had aged out). They published an article to this effect, but I never heard anything else about it. Attempts to ask David E. Davis about this (in 2010) met with confused silence when his wife answered the phone.
If you do find the Car & Driver article (from either '73 or '74), you'll notice both side windows are about the same size. This was the second-from-top model, in a body style now nicknamed "peanut." The far sexier, small-rear-window version is now called "the mango." That's what I had, and the one that commands the most money today. My father had the peanut version, which is still close to my heart (but not like the mango). You could also get a 4-door (which was peanut-like) or a wagon (more like a walnut). And you had your choice of engines: a 1.2L or 1.6L. Don't even bother with the smaller engine. The bigger one was a mini Hemi, and came with upgraded brakes. When ordered in a mango body, you also got a wood-grain steering wheel, 5-speed transmission (not four) and a better suspension. I never should have sold that car! I need someone to give me a lift to Cyprus NOW! Forget the legal issues with obtaining a 43-year-old foreign vehicle that has no documented owner! I should also point out that Greece and Turkey both drive on the right hand of the road, so the cars will be all ready to go here. Except for the radios.
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