Toyota made its name in the performance segment long before it was building GR Corollas, GR Supras, and GR 86s. One of the cars that helped it accomplish that goal so many decades ago was the Celica. This 1977 example looks great but needs a little bit of work when you get up nice and close.
When it was new, it would’ve made somewhere around 96 horsepower (71 kW) and 120 lb-ft (162 Nm) of torque thanks to a 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine. Today, we’re not sure how much power it makes but it does have a newer (yet still fairly old) Toyota 22R-TE engine under the hood. When new, these 2.4-liter engines developed around 135 hp (101 kW) and 172 lb-ft (234 Nm) of torque.
That should be more than enough to get it around town with some enjoyable gusto. Power is fed to the rear wheels through five-speed manual transmission reportedly sourced from a Supra. 15-inch Data RA alloy wheels wrapped with Toyo Prozes R888 tires conceal a Wilwood big brake kit at the front. Techno Toy Tuning suspension components, Eibach springs, and KYB adjustable shocks support the car.
More: Jay Leno Has A Look At The Original Toyota Celica
On paper, and from about 10 feet away, this looks like a really fun and eye-catching classic car. Closer up though, there’s some body damage to contend with. One of the wheel arches is broken, another needs new paint, and it’s missing windshield wipers too
A quick look at the interior shows Sparco bucket seats with racing harnesses, a roll cage, and an NR-G steering wheel. At the same time, the climate control lever is missing, the passenger window crank splines are stripped, and the center console mount is loose.
From the looks of it, the entire dashboard could use a refurbishment or replacement. Thankfully, this thing comes with a ton of extra parts from a gauge cluster to camber plates to a tape deck. It certainly looks like a lot of fun over on Bring a Trailer but it might just be too much of another person’s project to mess with. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
