Army veteran from San Diego buys first four-door at the age of 87
- Army veteran, Herb Stern, has owned numerous iconic cars
- The 2025 Toyota GR Corolla is his first four-door
- Or is that five?
Published on Jan 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jan 20, 2025 at 10:19 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
87-year-old car enthusiast and army veteran, Herb Stern, has owned numerous iconic cars but he’s bought his first four-door: the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla.
He previously owned a 1931 Ford Model A, Lotus Europa, Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider, and multiple GTIs.
His latest purchase, a 2025 Toyota GR Corolla is breaking a lifelong streak of coupes and roadsters.
Premium Plus and automatic, in Ice Cap white), it’s his first-ever four-door vehicle – and he wants everyone to know about it.
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First four-door for the veteran
Describing himself as a ‘geezer’ who’d been ‘lurking’ in the group, he told members of the 2023+ Toyota GR Corolla Group on Facebook all about his recent purchase.
“It doesn’t have a fantastic B58 engine,’ the veteran begins, comparing it to the Toyota GR Supra he drove for the past five years.
“But at least it can do a Costco run with another person in the car.

“It’s actually very interesting in its own way.”
He concluded: “My tombstone was going to say ‘He never owned a four-door’. Guess that’s not going to work anymore.”
Why the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla?
While he was looking for something in red or heavy metal, another car came along instead.
“I found a white premium + auto for under $47K,” he explained.
He seems thrilled with his purchase and posted about it in the niche group eliciting over 1,800 reactions from fellow members.

However, he was forced to do a quick edit and admit that ‘okay, it’s a five-door – but that’s three doors too many’ – comparing it to his previous two-door cars.
While he praised the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla for its performance and versatility there was one thing that was a step too far for Herb – the roof racks.
“Anyone interested in the roof racks that I took off immediately?” he offered.

All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”