I’m a huge fan of just about everything that Toyota manufactured during the 1970s and 1980s – whether it was passenger vehicles or trucks, the company always seemed to hit the nail on the head in terms of performance, reliability, and styling. With that in mind, this 1977 Toyota Celica GT that’s available here on eBay is a low-mile example of one of the company’s best overall vehicles from the era.
This RA29 is available in Bothell, Washington with a clean title. Sadly, there is absolutely nothing in the advertisement regarding the vehicle’s history, which is something I always enjoy reading about when coming across a find like this, especially when the listing includes a photo of various vehicle-related documentation. At one point, someone genuinely loved this sports car, and it’s a shame the ad doesn’t showcase that further.
The exterior is in mostly good shape, especially for a car of this age and nature, but there are some blemishes throughout the body, such as rust on the trunk lid and a rather significant scratch on the passenger side quarter panel.
Inside the cabin, things are very orderly, and the only prominent change is a few aftermarket gauges under the glovebox. The only noteworthy flaw is some discolored carpet in the trunk area, an issue that the seller discloses in the ad.
There’s a 2.2-liter 4-cylinder 20R engine under the hood, which pairs to a 5-speed manual transmission to drive the rear wheels. The drivetrain only shows 27,290 miles on the 5-digit odometer, but it’s hard to determine if the odometer has rolled over once or not. In any case, the seller notes that the venerable Toyota drivetrain runs and drives without any issues.
At the time of publication, bidding for this classic Celica is sitting at $3,502. What would you do with this final-year RA29?
I love the first and second generation Celica Liftbacks. This car because of it’s bodies issues isn’t worth more then 4K. Then as in now Toyota always ahead of the curve….well most of the time. lol
More rust on the air filter housing than body and undercarriage. That’s impressive! Nice survivor. Wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see this go to $6k+.
Sorry Joe Mac, The listing ended early. These NOW bring in this condition $10K and up. If it was $4-$6K I would be a player.
The liftbacks are very coveted today. They cleverly mimic a 1960’s Mustang fastback only smaller. As you may and or may not know there were still two body styles and this is what everyone wants in a 70’s ‘Yo.
Awesome looking car. I remember when the Toyota Celica looked like this. My oldest cousin had one like this. Although I can’t remember the interior colour, I remember his was yellow on the exterior.
If Ford would have done this instead of the Mustang II during the mid 70″s the Mustang II would be a much more sought after classic.
I had a 76 GT coupe 35 years ago. I’d love to have this car, but I’m not
paying more than $5K for it. My car was so rusted out they couldn’t put on the lift to do a brake job. Mechanic said he was afraid it would crack in half. Loved the car, hated the poor body integrity.
Someone who lived near me had flipped cars for a number of years, and had one of these in his yard, a liftback, bright yellow, $300.00. It looked like show room condition. I raced home, grabbed the cash, raced back to his place and it was gone.
I had one with a black interior, automatic and ESP sensors for low brakes and fluids. Had louvers on the lift back and I added the front spoiler to appear to look like the “Tiger” option. It was a cool looking and fun car to drive. Mileage was good also, compare to the larger American cars that I have owned. The car also introduced me to the many plastic parts that were now being used in all the newer models. Now the down side. To small for a family car, which I had at the time. The body would dent just leaning on it, so I was concerned for the lack of Safely. I felt like I was sitting on the road when driving and didn’t like looking up at the other cars, again the safely issue. I owned the car for 10 years and the only mechanical issues I had beside basic upkeep was with the Ac and that was when I traded it in for my next ride,a 5th Av., because of it’s size. About a year later, the new owner called me(not sure how he got my number)and told me over and over again, what a great car it was. I did tell him to hand wash the car only, because a friend of mine also had one and ran it through a car wash and flatten the roof.
Is the Celica still for sale?