When Toyota was trying to establish itself in the 1980s, it drew strength from its reputation for building high-quality vehicles for a reasonable price. It was going head-to-head with Honda, which had developed a knack for developing sporty models that didn’t cost a ton but delivered outstanding performance. Toyota decided to make a name for itself by building the best version of its Celica possible, and introduced the All-Trac Turbo, which combined sticky all-wheel drive with a sixteen-valve four-cylinder delivering 190 turbocharged horsepower. Find this rare survivor-grade Celica here on eBay with an opening bid of $5,700 and no takers yet.
This is one of those cars that is undoubtedly rare – and desirable, if you dig 80s tuner cars – but it’s almost too obscure at this point. There does come a time when a model goes from rare to unobtanium, and unless it’s from one of the more sought-after brands among the classic car community, it simply represents a potential burden. Finding parts, protecting it in traffic from distracted drivers, and trying to explain to cars and coffee attendees why you paid $20,000 for a Toyota aren’t on anyone’s list of favorite things to do. It makes sense to experience those annoyances for a Ferrari, but a Toyota?
Road test editors at the time, however, heaped praise on the All-Trac Toyota. Fast, composed, and all-weather capable made it a home run in enthusiasts’ eyes, but as Toyota continued to improve the Celica, it’s top-tier model became surprisingly expensive. It’s understandable, of course, given Toyota certainly loaded the Celica up with high-tech equipment and options (for the time period, anyway.) Leather sport seats, a sunroof, ABS, and a decent stereo made for a high-end cockpit, and that’s before we get into the mechanical hardware that allowed drivers to kick up some mean rooster tails in the snow.
Full-time four-wheel drive with a viscous coupling center locking differential was serious stuff in a 1980s Toyota, but it didn’t necessarily translate to incredible grip. Some added weight also blunted the performance a bit, thanks to the AWD system. However, the overall package – capable of ripping to a top speed of 135 miles per hour – was what made the Celica All-Trac so compelling. It just worked well as a cohesive unit, and certainly better than anything from a humble Japanese car marker had any right to do. The seller’s car has a few flaws of the cosmetic sort and suffers from a nagging hot-start issue, but overall, it will likely be hard to top this All-Trac for some time to come.
I for one would be delighted to see interest in the All-Trac remain tepid, as it’s one of the cars on my want list. These were very capable — and quick — machines, and I recall having an absolute ball with the one I drove. It was the perfect machine for playing Swedish Rally Driver.
It would likely cost the new owner at least as much as the purchase price to spiff it up, judging by the list of needs the seller posted, but most of the fixes would be voluntary. If not for that, which sadly exceeds my budget, I would have bid already.
Toyota equipped these w a pretty great 4wd system. Good article Lavery, for a neat car. 👍
What’s up with the timelines lately?
This article has a date of 8/26, but comments dated 8/22 and 8/23.
Vehicle SOLD on 8/24 for $6,300.
I never drove one of these. But did rent a “stock” one for a day. I strictly drove on pavement in the Denver area and found the suspension woefully short on wheel travel. (A must to play “Swedish Rally Driver”!) Ice Racing maybe,it depends on how bad the understeer is. (In other words how hard you have to work to get it around corners in negative traction situations) In Ice racing my Scirocco had mild overseer on the ice which was a blast to compete with. My Honda Civic understeered so bad, that by the time you were done with a 2 minute run, you were soaking wet with sweat. I realize I’m talking about front wheel drive cars here. But most All wheel drive vehicles fall into the same category.
I had one of these ST-165s and later a number of ST-185s. They really aren’t that exciting to drive. However, the seats! So comfortable. Actually the whole cabin is very well laid out, particularly on the 185.
Yet another Toyota that I cross-shopped, then crossed off of my shopping list, thanks to dealer greed, in the form of “Additional Dealer Markups” (ADM’s), “Delivery Charges” and “Availability Charges”, all designed to extract maximum dollars from suckers who would buy a Toyota or Honda at well over list price, but not from me, LOL! When I went to test drive the subject vehicle, it had been sitting so long on the dealer’s lot that he had to jump start the car! Not a good look. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t afford the Kool-Aid, as it was almost a “leftover”, as the next year’s models were due on the dealer’s lot shortly. Despite this, the dealer wouldn’t deal, and the car remained unsold when I left the lot. Many people felt that the ask for a mere Celica was much too high, despite the incredibly capable chassis and more powerful engine that the “top dog” model was sporting.
P.S. It sold for just $6300.