Holding five grand and being forced to make do with what you have doesn’t have to suck. Sometimes, a little luck and a lot of patience can work to your advantage. There are plenty of well-worn Mustangs, Camaros and Firebirds out there, and we’ve featured plenty that wouldn’t take much to be something, but maybe you’re different. Maybe that isn’t up your alley. That’s okay…this week, we have something just for you: a 1981 Toyota Celica. Quit giving me that strange look and keep reading…
At the first glance, it seems that we’ve stumbled onto the coupe version of Toyota’s wannabe Mustang. I don’t mean that to be as snide as it sounds…early Celicas are really fun cars, since they are light rear-drivers. But one quick look inside betrays that clean exterior. The steering wheel could be ignored, but the bevy of AutoMeter gauges and the aftermarket shifter can’t. Ok, let’s go under hood and see what the hell is up here…
Fans of Roadkill might be having flashbacks to the Rotsun, Finnegan’s Datsun 240Z that packed turbocharged Chevrolet 4.3 power. There’s no diesel turbocharger here, but that is the most wicked looking V6 we’ve seen that isn’t in a Grand National in some time. Take note of the front of the block: I might be seeing things, but those sure look like blower drive pulleys to me. Someone had some very serious plans for this Celica, but for whatever reason, it’s now on Craigslist. Forget the blower…a small turbocharger would make this classic one hell of a Toy.
Craigslist Link: 1981 Toyota Celica Coupe
The Celica is really clean. Any RWD Celica is worth owning having had a few myself. It does need to be a Toyota version of the Rotsun but this one is in a lot better shape!
I prefer the hatch…but I would not thumb my nose at this. I’d go turbo power and have a blast!
Add tubo and hater pipe, stir…
Maybe I’m weird, but that color and stance makes me want to drop in a 383 with a blower poking through the hood. It just seems like the right thing to do. Extra credit for fender well exit headers.