The Toyota Celica began out as a sporty hardtop coupe based mostly on the Carina sedan, in aware imitation of the Falcon-derived first-generation Ford Mustang. Whereas the Carina by no means caught on in North America, its Celica sibling bought very properly right here from the time of its American debut as a 1971 mannequin and deep into the Eighties. Adjustments in automotive tastes caught up with the sporty-looking commuter coupe, although, and what turned out to be the ultimate technology of Celica first appeared as a 2000 mannequin. This is a type of automobiles, present in a Denver-area self-service boneyard just lately.
The U.S.-market Celica went by means of three generations from the 1971 by means of 1985 mannequin years, and all these automobiles had one factor in frequent: a torquey four-cylinder truck engine swiped from the Hilux (and descended from a line of Nineteen Fifties forklift motors) driving the rear wheels. An enlarged model with a six-cylinder engine began out with Celica Supra badging however was all the time thought-about a definite mannequin.
For 1986, the Supra—which had develop into extra of a mean-looking Chevy Camaro rival with every passing yr — went its personal method and the Celica moved onto a entrance/all-wheel-drive platform derived from the T150 Corona (which, not like the Carina, was by no means bought in america).
Gross sales of the front-wheel-drive Celica began out sturdy sufficient, however sports activities coupes usually grew to become much less fashionable because the Nineties went on. As a part of Toyota’s push to lure youthful patrons (which gave us the Scion model and the Echo subcompact), the sixth-generation Celica was made lighter and cheaper. Reviewers appreciated it, however ever-increasing numbers of younger automobile consumers in america had shifted their choice to vehicles by that point. In the summertime of 2004, Toyota Motor Gross sales USA introduced that 2005 can be the final mannequin yr for the Celica right here (gross sales in Japan and Europe continued by means of the 2006 mannequin yr).
Solely two fashions of the 2000-2005 Celica have been supplied in america: the GT and the GT-S, each liftback coupes. The MSRP on the ’00 GT was $16,695 (about $30,177 in 2023 {dollars}). That was fairly a worth drop from that of the ’99 GT, which listed at $21,440 ($39,815 after inflation).
This automobile has the optionally available automated transmission as an alternative of the bottom five-speed guide (the 2000 GT-S bought a six-speed guide as customary tools), which added $800 to the worth tag ($1,486 now).
It additionally has the ability sunroof bundle, which included energy home windows and locks. The fee: $1,700 ($3,073 in the present day).
The engine is a 1.8-liter DOHC four-cylinder with variable valve timing, rated at 140 horsepower. The GT-S bought a hairier model that made 180 horses.
A junkyard shopper went to the difficulty of eradicating the complete entrance subframe, then left it within the filth. Maybe they wished to get to the transmission, then had a change of coronary heart.
Are we nostalgic for the frantic bullet-time automobile adverts of the flip of the century but?
In Japan, the Celica’s potential patrons squared off in video-game dance battles.