What a sweetheart! It may not be the most exciting—output is just 96 horsepower and it’s even an automatic, for crying out loud—but this ’80 Celica liftback is stunningly original, with just 32,000 miles showing. Add to that the smooth lines of the second-generation Celica (in their better-integrated post-facelift form, no less), and a reasonable $5,750 buy-it-now price, and I think it’s a winner. It’s here on eBay out of Murrieta, California, with the reserve not yet met with bidding up to $3,078.28, but not too far to go to hit that BIN.
It’s hard not to love a car with a plaid interior; I can’t even stay mad at that slushbox. It doesn’t hurt that everything is so clean and so original, and everything works down to the A/C and all of the dash lights. Look it over front and rear, from each side, and under the hatch at the rear and tell me you can find a flaw, other than some bagginess in the vinyl panels lining the rear seat area and hatch struts that are no longer quite up to the job. Sadly, this cute cabin hides this Celica’s biggest flaw, a slightly rusty spare tire well—but if that’s its biggest problem, you’re getting off pretty easy. Those pinholes shouldn’t be too big of a deal to fix if you’re so inclined.
Everything under the hood looks just as shipshape as you’d expect it to look on a 32,000-mile car. The seller states that the car has been driven up to 70 MPH on the highway and performed smoothly; more importantly if a buyer plans to keep this car in California, it was able to pass its smog test within the last year, a very good sign indeed. New tires underpin the car, and it comes with a complement of original paperwork and other ephemera (that key fob!).
When the Celica first emerged in the mid-70s, it was seen as a sort of Japanese pony car, and while its option list was never as extensive as those of the original Mustang or Camaro, like those cars a Celica could be equipped to suit any number of purposes—although the outright muscle of the American pony cars was more or less off the table in the more parsimonious ’70s. With its automatic transmission and modest mix of creature comforts, this ’80 was perfectly configured as a fun, stylish, and comfortable commuter when new, or as a no-fuss, no-muss sweetheart of a classic cruiser today!
So what is with the extra, non oe, body side molding on the left side only?
Very sharp car worth the ask. Move forward a few years to an “83 Celica gts notch or lift back…or better yet a Supra.
I’d be surprised if someone’s doesn’t pull the trigger and use the BIN option. If its as represented and I wanted the car I wouldn’t take the chance.
Steve R
If I were to travel back in time and needed a car, this might be at or close to the top of the list. I never thought of them as terribly interesting when they were new, but the look has aged much better than the concurrent 280Z.
This is identical to one my father was going to buy in 1981. Even though we live in Australia, my father always had a strong love for American Fords. He’d previously owned Fairlanes, Customlines, Galaxy’s and a T-Bird. He test drove one of these, and while he liked it a lot, he finished up buying an American import LTD/Galaxy fitted with a 390 and C6. He said that the Celica was a fun little car to drive, but he couldn’t resist the effortless cruising of the Ford.
SOLD $4500 and worth every penny. Why? Find another in this shape with these miles. I had an 87 “Nova” (Toyota) and it was bullet proof. I sold it for $2500 and miss it to this day.
HA! My nephew had an ’87 “Nova” and you couldn’t kill that little sucker.
Rock solid car, dead reliable and slow as molasses.
I had a black coupe, 5 speed, 15″ Cressida wheels, Supra sway bars and Bilstein struts and shocks. It had a great ride, handled wonderfully and again, slower than molasses. 114mph 4th or 5th gear was all she would do.
That seems more than plenty fast for most of us.
I had one for 2 years. Great looker but the power was completely underwhelming. A pretty slug.
Here in Argentina my father in 1981 bought a brand new ST 1600 (different grill and painted stripes on the sides) almost the same colour and my grandfather a white 2000 DOHC (this one was really fast, both 5 speed), they were indestructibles! in 2000 a friend of my father sold his (just like my father´s, bought the same day, only his was grey) but i¨m 6 feet tall (mostly from weist up and can´t fit in it anymore, I cried like a little baby, I found it abandoned a few months ago and by the time was going to buy iy just to look at it they sold it again, they crushed it last week damn it!
Lovely looking Celica. My favourite years for this gen Toyota Celica are the 1980 and 81. :)