Here’s a decidedly un-barn findy car in the form of a 1973 Toyota Celica ST. No, it’s not typical for what usually graces the web pages of BF, but it’s a worthy subject. The seller tells us that it’s an unrestored original and spent its first twenty-eight years in California so let’s look it over and see what Toyota had going on, so many years ago, before they became the automotive juggernaut that they are today. You can find this 2+2 in Princeton, Illinois where it’s available, here on eBay for a current bid of $7,804 with the reserve not yet met.
So, it’s hard for me to think in terms of a 50-year-old Toyota which is silly on my part, but really, why not? Toyota has been in the U.S. since ’58 and within ten years had carved out a niche for themselves. The Celica first made the scene in ’71 and was an important member of Toyota’s line-up through 2006 (I managed to buy two!) Pony cars, i.e. Mustangs, Camaros, Barracuda, Firebirds, et al, were all the rage in the early ’70s and the Celica was Toyota’s entry into that market segment. It did march to the beat of a different drummer, however, in that it eschewed the big engine/high horsepower mash-up and went for road manners, driveability, and sporty style.
This is one clean ride, it’s amazing to find a ’73 Celica much less one in this fine condition. The finish, vinyl top, chrome, and side stripes are just perfect though the seller mentions, “car has some chips, a few dings, and dents noted in the photos“. The side bump strip is an add-on and I must admit, I wasn’t expecting wire wheel covers. One thing that does stand out with this vintage of the Celica is the clunky-looking rubber bumper guards designed to comply with the Fed’s five MPH bumper standard.
No big V8 here, the Celica made do with a 97HP, 1.8 liter, in-line four-cylinder engine spinning a four-speed manual transmission. The listing claims, “The car runs, shifts, and drives as it should“. The mileage recording is 10K miles so that’s likely 110K in reality. One thing mentioned is that the heater core has been bypassed so that will need to be managed if the next owner wants heat and defrost.
The bucket seat interior presents well, actually really well. The vinyl and fabric upholstery is showing no signs of splits or even basic wear and that gently-used vibe extends to the carpet and door panels. It’s the same story with the dash pad, no splits or cracks noted. One nice touch, at least in the context of today, is the round, analog console-mounted clock. Of note, this Celica is air-conditioned!
Toyota avoided the sporty-car market segment for some number of years, though of late they’re playing with two, the GR86 and the droopy-looking Supra. Those two are fine, but this trip down memory lane is a pleasant reminder of what once was. So no, the Celica wasn’t a model-for-model pony car as offered by the ’70s domestics, but they built a good car and did it their way. Show of hands, anyone owned an old Celica? And if so, how was the experience?
I always liked the styling on the early Celica. Aged well and design still looks fresh to me. I think the only things that detract from the lines are the silly bumper guards and the vinyl roof. Also amazing is the originality and condition of this car. No way could it have survived if it was driven on the salty roads of Illinois. A real time capsule.
To anyone in salty climates, it’s an unusual sight, and the only way any survived at all, was if they never saw a flake. This is, I feel, the car that changed everything for Toyota. While the author is correct, it was Toyotas sporty entry, but not to compete with musclecars, he left out economy. Previously, Toyotas had a stodgy image as a tin can sedans with gas mileage its only attribute. The Celica changed all that. I too thought the originals were the best. Still had all the negatives of an Asian car, but in an attractive package, it could appeal to anyone, and it did. Like most, 2 winters MAX, and major suspension components began rusting and salvage yards were full of them,,most coming in on their own power.
The other thing, this car was introduced during the “55 mph” schpeil, and it sorely needs a 5 speed, addressed later. Makes a big difference, trust me. Great find.
A mechanic at a local Toyota dealership brings his bright key lime green example out as his daily every summer
One reason so few survivors are around, besides rust of course, was the propensity of this engine to lose valve heads. Ask my brother.
And My Mother. We were going about 60 m.p.h. and she let off the gas and immediatly the timing chain completly chewed up the front of the motor. No fixing that one but hindsight being 20/20 if I knew how hard they would be to find now I would have definatly replaced the motor. Then I guess I could say that about a lot of cars gone by.
I had a ’71 Corona MkII sedan and a ’74 Celica GT. Both powered by the 8-RC / 18/RC engine, which had a bad habit of throwing timing chains – and while a non-interference engine, pulling the head to get to the timing cover, followed by the pan to remove wayward chain & tensioner bits, got old after a while.
I loved both cars, though. Got me through college & in to my first job. And absolutely a timeless design.
This is a rare bird.The 70-74 Celicas are what everyone wants. More particularly the 76-77 hatch backs with the early bumpers.
The wire hubcaps I would certainly loose in favor of spending a little money for Minilights…..or anything with some offset. The guy with the CRX did very well with adding wheels to enhance the look of his classic Japanese car. It paid off.
I recall these very well. I think the ugly wire wheel covers are original, if I’m not mistaken.
No,not original.
I was 12 years old when my dad bought a brand new 72 ST, red, no bumper guards, and no side strip. I absolutely loved that car. This car is about an hour and a half away from me, too bad the funds aren’t there, or I’d be bidding!
I don’t see a downside here. Small, efficient, sporty, rare in originality are hard to pass up for lunch money.
Had a few of these 72, 74, loved them bought my first one in 78 two things needed repaired, the rockers were rusted out and the timing chains needed replacing. This one just MIGHT be original miles, the seats look too nice, all mine had over 50,000 miles and all needed seat covers. By about 1980 they all disappeared into rust dust and the struts were popping through the hoods lol extremely fun car, loved every one I had.
Sorry everyone, I made it sound as if there were more then 1 timing chain lol
There *are* two chains – from the crank to the idler shaft/distributor drive, and then another, up to the camshaft.
I could pull the head off of 18RC in my sleep. Kept a spare set of chains & a timing cover, tensioners & gaskets in my trunk.
Loved my 18RCs,never had a problem and when l did ,simple to work on.l put millions of miles on my Coronas,and Celicas.l still have the Corona my mother bought new
I’ve been watching Sarah’n’Tuned shoehorn a Tundra V8 into one of these, on Youtube, lately. I can’t wait to see her give the beans to the finished car.
Sarah, my boss back in the late 70’s. Where she and the car are today, I have no idea. I remember hers as a very dependable ride.
I had a 74 and loved it. You could hear that car rusting in the driveway… This car will bring mucho Denaro.
Well recalled. Pretty sure the wire wheel covers were factory.
I have to disagree. I never saw any of them on these when they were new, and there were plenty of these around then. Look like a recent addition IMHO.
Yeah they sold those horrible wire wheel covers at every department store! So many great cars were vandalized by them. This really needs slots, Minilites or the attractive five spoke factory wheel covers.
Great Celica otherwise. They looked better with the front of the roof covered in vinyl but this is still a beautiful example.
I once did a nut and bolt resto of one of these with a friend. Great fun cars and now appreciating in value. Love this car. All it needs is a color change. Really hate that color.
Jeff, you were right the first time. 18R-C engine has 2 timing chains an all of the gear that goes with them. They broke a lot back in the day which resulted in a black snake hanging out of the timing cover and bent valves.
Thanks Richard, an old friend who helped me with them was with me and corrected me, shouldn’t have listened to him haha but that was 45 years ago and we still love the memories 👍🏻
Beautiful car. Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, let alone anything else, I remember this first gen Toyota Celica. My oldest cousin had a 1977 Toyota Celica.
I bought one of those back in 1974 and it was one of the worst cars I ever had.What a piece of crap!
Pretty much all cars were crap in 1974 to be fair. The Japanese built cars tended to be a lot better than what the US was building at the time!
My friend made a top notch alcohol burning race car out of one of these here in Pa. Check it out on FB, Kanian racing. Now he wants to buy an all original one. I will show him this one.
i thought of it like the karman ghia, 850, miaita, 240z and many others – “company gift to the public”. Sporty, inexpensive, “every man’s car”. There’s one in the shop we put the tacoma motor’n a turbo in. Fella has had it 20, 30 yrs & just now near wire completion (i think FitTec puter for the 4 injectors, & the rest).
What’s made in this slot today? Some kia? Have they “abarth-ized’ the fiat 500 yet (any good)? mini cooper is way more complicated than need B (& as beemer – probably outpriced)….
I had a 2013 FIAT Abarth 500. That car was a little rocket ship. Handled like a slot car and with no mufflers(from the factory)? Let the neighbors know when I left for work. The downside was, it’s sheetmetal was so thin, a strong wind would dent it. Traded it in on a more practical car.
Definitely a rare sight. Here in the northeast they were common in the 1970s but most rusted out within ten years. By the 80s they were mostly gone from sight
Back in the early 80s, I bought a used 78 Celica with the 20R engine and a 5 speed that needed a clutch replacement. Paid $400 for it with 100K miles. I put on another 100K myself. I did swap the carb for a Weber but didn’t notice much improvement. The one thing about the car…it smelled like the inside of a horse barn. I gutted it and cleaned, but the smell never left. I suspect a prior owner had a large dog :-). Mine had no rust, living in the central Piedmont of NC. Sold it for $500 or so when I bought my beige 84 RX7-GSL in 1988 (with 5K miles on it).
The rear license plate is from the largest Toyota dealer in the San Fernando Valley so the car came from Southern California…Most of the times dealers would add the vinyl roof, body side mouldings and the ugly wire wheel covers for profit..
I worked for a company in the 70s that did mostly new car dealer upgrades- better sound systems, sunroofs, body side molding, pin striping, cruise control, etc. Our local Honda dealers were notorious for calling us for “the package” to be installed as soon as a transporter of new cars arrived, before they were on the lot. As Hondas were on consignment and in short supply in those days, due to popularity, the buyers couldn’t get a “non-upgraded” one. The dealer markups were brutal. Other dealers had similar strategies for bumping up the price of newly-arrived inventory.
Consignment here meaning allocation- only so many Civics, Accords, etc. provided per dealer. They weren’t used cars. Sorry for the confusion.
I love these, and pretty much all years of Celicas.
On the YouTube channel Sarah n Tuned, she’s restomodding a ’74 (I think), but she put a Toyota V8 in it. Awesome project, if you like these cars, check it out. (No affiliation here, just a fan of her channel).
It’s amazing to me how all these Toyota enthusiasts recall all the engine designations of these cars. “Yeah, my car was a 2POSonetwothree, but I put a ZZ999fizzlebob in it last week”.
I couldn’t remember what the engine code was, but wiki says the first North American 1971 ST was a 8R, but I swear I remember mine as a 2T, but it was a looong time ago.
I know when we graduated high school, me and two buddies packed it up and drove to Myrtle Beach for graduation trip……..it never missed a beat but these days I dunno if I would have tried that, lol
Bought my oldest daughter a used 1974 nice little car but choke always gummed up not a good engine the next series a great engine.
It had the automatic transmission. Bring up 1974
silica with my kids always brings a lot of laughter
measure 0 to 60 time in minutes not seconds 😂
Yeah, you almost need a calendar for one of these, but they’re fun anyway!
“Accidentally “reported “ this comment. Sorry.
GM sold automatics to Toyota at that time. Designed for big V9s, they sucked the life out of little Japanese engines.
76 Celica GT coupe was my first car ever, at 18. Loved that car, loved driving stick. Frame rusted so badly it couldn’t be put on a lift to change the brakes, as I was told it would crack in half. Engine was smooth and quiet and shifted like a dream. I miss that car a lot. I then bought a new 1989 Beretta GT. What a hunk of crap.
I was just 16, in 1977, and my grandfather lived next to the local Chev/Toyota bodyshop mgr. This was out in the country too.
He bought a 71 Celica ST, and later a Corolla from the neighbor, and both sat in his barn. I bought that Celica from him for a 1000$, working at Wendy’s and then a grocery chain, while I drove it to high school. It cemented a lifelong lean towards smaller, sportier manual transmission cars versus the big juggernauts.
I owned two of these early 70s Celicas as my first two cars in the mid 80s. My first was a 74 that I totalled by rear-ending a full-size van. The left side bumper guard bent to the side and the exposed frame extension punched a hole in the van’s gas tank, causing gas to leak all over the place. The second was a 71 that I swapped useable parts from the 74 onto. Working on that car taught me skills that I still benefit from today. I drove hard it for 50k miles with no cam chain issues so I guess I was lucky. I did have the fuel line strip out the inlet threads on on the carb and was driving one day when I smelled gas. I pulled off and opened the hood only to find gas leaking all over the hot exhaust manifold. I guess the Lord wasn’t done with me yet both times. Lots of good memories with those cars though.
My first new car 75 Celica same yellow as this. Mine is a 5 speed manual. In Australia we had the 1600 2 T motor, then went to the 2 litre 20 R motor in 76. Great car started my love for Toyota sports cars. Still have it along with 3 newer Celicas an 86 and 2 Mk 4 Supras one 6 speed manual one automatic.
Guy with whom I worked in the mid-70s traded his Duster 340 on a Celica – gas mileage was the main incentive … problem was, at 6′ 3″ and 360 lbs he looked like a spider in a thimble… the Celica’s driver’s seat was quickly flattened and, when following him, the car seriously listed to port … he eventually traded it for a ’77 Plymouth Fury, which we wrecked in New Orleans on a trip from Chicago to Mardi Gras … sometimes I’m amazed I’ve made it to my seventies …
while in high school, and driving mine, a friends dad had bought him a 70’s Chevelle, complete with a 396, some kind of purple with white stripes and mirrors….he ended up trading it for a Celica coupe like mine…..nowadays we talk about those days and he realizes the Chevelle would probably be worth more these days, ah, good ole hind sight …….
yeah, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20” … how many cars we’ve bought and sold in the 60s-70s for a few hundred dollars are worth many thousands nowadays – like the ’55 TBird I sold for $700 in ’71 … c’est la vie …
SOLD for $15,100.
I still have my 72 and after the 3rd engine I’ve sourced a couple of 18rg engines of which one will make it into the old 72. It hasn’t been on the road for near 10 years but time is getting near to resurrect it. Inherited the car from my uncle when I was 17. It has been driven to the west coast of Canada, down to Vegas and many other places. Looking forward to driving it one more time, but with 200 hp to make it interesting.
Almost the first car I bought myself. A ’74 in ’78, blue with black interior. It smoked while idling I passed. Kind of regret it, the car I wound up with was a ’76 Capri Ghia with the V6 and 4 speed, produced a string of 4. I really remember the fun we had in a friend’s Celica and still wish I’d bought the smoker with the difference I spent I could have had the engine overhauled.
My first Japanese car, purchased in 1983, was a red 72 Celica. I paid less than $200 for it and a disreputable used car dealer, because it was far from perfect. Being in Ohio, it was nearly eaten by rust, and it obviously had electrical issues. I replaced the batter and rebuilt the alternator, and that solved that. Next up, I replaced the head, which was cracked, with one from a junked Celica, and had a valve job done on it before installing it. $109, the biggest expense I had with that car. Later I rebuilt the starter, and that was it mechanically. Oh yeah, and the reason I chose this particular car was that it only had 139,000 miles on it, was a one owner car, and the owner had changed the oil religiously every 3,000 miles, recording each change in the back of the owner’s manual. I didn’t give a shit about how it looked, it ran like a top, and I put nearly 200,000 more miles on it with nothing but regular oil changes as maintenance. I finally gave it up when two front brake hoses broke within a week of each other, I felt that it was telling me it had finally had enough. I replaced it with an 81 Datsun 280ZX, but I never loved the Datsun as much as I did that Celica. Everything just fit together so nicely, it ran like a top, and kind of made me think of a sewing machine the way it ran. That waz my only Toyota, but I’m now in the market for a Scion FR-S, yellow, with the TRD package, or, perhaps a Toyota 86, again with TRD. I think both of these cars are worthy successors to the first generation Celica, and probably even more fun, plus they have all the modern creature comforts.
I would forget the FRS or 86. Nothing Toyota but emblems. Badge engineered Subaru. If you want real Toyota goodness. Pay up for the new GR. A friend has one and it really is all that.
I believe the is a gift from Japan trying to make up for the slap in the face known as the BMW Supra.
I had a ’74 ST (4 spd) which I bought in 1980 from its original owner with 60k all highway miles on it, for the grand sum of $$1,600, which was a LOT for me at the time. I just LOVED that car. I’d drive it on twisty mountain roads in Massachusetts and Vermont, and it would just hunker down and grab the road as you went. It was a blast.
I never had any engine problems; actually never any problems at all with that car except for…RUST. I had it for 5 years, and had put about 60k more miles on it, but there was absolutely nothing left of the body at that point. No rocker panels, no trunk floor, big hole in the driver’s side floor (think the Flinstones)….I reluctantly gave it up for something safer.
After a junkyard refused it, a few of my co-workers bought it for $300, and it vanished totally a few weeks later. They never told me what became of it, but I assume they totaled it somewhere.
40+ years later I still think fondly of it. Of course, if I bought one of these now, I would probably not be able to get in or out of it….Age and back surgery will do that to you….
I bought my 71ST in 79 from my grandfather for $1000.
His neighbor ran the local Chevy dealer body shop, and sold my grandfather the Celica 4speed and a Corrola automatic.
I took it to Myrtle Beach in 1980 when I graduated high school.
never had any issues with it,
I let a high school friend drive it and he totaled it.
I still wish I had that car these days