In 1971, Toyota began selling two new models based on the same platform in North America: the Carina and the Celica. The Carina sold poorly here and disappeared after a few years without making much of an impression, but the sporty-looking Celica continued to sell well. An enlarged version with a six-cylinder engine and Celica Supra badges appeared on our shores starting in 1979, with the Supra’s Celica background de-emphasized in later years. For the 1986 model year, the Supra became bigger and badder-looking, while the Celica name shifted to an all-new design based on a front-wheel-drive platform derived from the T150 Corona. Today’s junkyard gem is one of those first-year front-drive Celicas, found in a Denver car graveyard. Rear-wheel-drive Celicas were affordable cars that looked good and were more fun to drive, similar to early Ford Mustangs. The divide between the economical Celica and its performance-oriented Celica Supra sibling became increasingly confusing for car buyers as the Supra became more of a competitor to the Chevrolet Camaro and Nissan Z-Car, so it made sense to build a new Celica that returned. Origins of the model. Rear-wheel-drive (non-Supra) Celicas sold in the United States had members of the Toyota R engine family under their hoods. The R was originally developed for use in Toyota Crown sedans and RK trucks (as well as forklifts) and in US-market Celicas that cost Rs. Gone were the beefy, torque-heavy mills that went into Hilux pickups of the time. They sounded like a truck engine and revved like a truck engine, which always seemed out of place in a supposedly sporty car. The 1986 Celica received non-Truckish S engines of 2.0 liter displacement; The Celica GT-S got a DOHC version rated at 135 horsepower while the Celica ST and GT got the 2S-E SOHC which only produced 97 horses. With the five-speed manual, which this car has, 97 horses were enough to make this 2,551-pound car reasonably fun. Beginning with the 1988 model year, a turbocharged version with an All-Trac all-wheel-drive system went on sale in the United States. This generation of Celica was available here as a liftback and a notchback coupe. A convertible version became available in the United States in 1987. The MSRP for this car was $10,398, which equates to $27,037 in 2023 dollars. It has air conditioning, which costs an extra $705 ($1,833 today), plus other options that push the out-of-home price well past the base figure. It only surpassed the 200,000-mile mark during its 37 years on the road. The interior still looks great after nearly four decades. This car was well treated by its owner or owners. Apart from a few areas with cracked old body filler, the sheetmetal looks great. You will find one in every car. you will see
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