BrianGT Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 I came to Celica's in the 70's when I was a Toyota mechanic.......and it kind of stuck with me......but I'm realising that they made other Celica's besides generation one's!!! So.......please tell me how and why you came across the Celica or Celica's you are driving now! Don't worry........I have woke up to the fact that they made others besides mine! Is it love or lust?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizona Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Bought a gen 6 1.8 a few years back as a cheapie when my car failed its mot, idea was run it til failed its mot bin it and get something else - six years later it finally failed an mot despite being totally abused, filled with all sorts of stuff, it'd get oil if the light came on and that was about it. Had some tyres and brake pads and a secondhand caliper in that time but nothing else. Even when it sold with no mot it went to someone who was going to put the bits right and use it. For its reliability, usefullness and being great to drive the next car was a no brainer, but this time the vert which wants for nothing and the gen 5, love the flip up lights and the look of it so thats my winter ride and great fun in the snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joecard71 Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 (edited) I have driven brand new company cars for over a decade, the last one being a new corsa that gave me no end of problems apart from the fact it wasn't as practicle as I imagined. So beginning of this year I trawled through autotrader for a replacement, nothing was inspiring as you can imagine, all badly looked after tired euro boxes. Plenty of cars I'd 'like' to own but nothing within my price range and running costs. By chance I was talking to a friends mum who had a black gen5 in the 90s, I hadn't really looked at celicas before and to be honest never really considered Toyotas much either. But she said it was the best car she'd owned and was gutted when it was stolen and torched. Anyway, I began looking at them and was really surprised how cheap it was to pick one up and the insurance was damned cheap compared to 'lesser' cars I was looking at. I began looking at some celicas (the gen 6 appealed to me the most) locally within reach, found out more about them on here and after viewing about 7, most of which were complete sheds, had to find a good one. I wasn't to be rushed and finally saw the one I wanted at a dealers in Bristol. It was up for £1250, I wasn't going to pay more than a grand and pointed out a few things re brakes and clutch and said I'll give you £900 cash and take it now. The deal was done, got the SR in silver great condition, with 189k mostly motorway miles by all accounts, full history and docs, it only had one lady owner from new and knew it was a sound car. Since February I've steadily given her some TLC inside and out, and added a few extras like jdm rears, toms lip, front and rear braces, clear side repeaters and of course the all important Celica Club sticker. It flew through MOT in August without issues and has been very reliable, most of all a pleasure to drive and be seen in, more smiles per miles than any car I've ever owned so far. I know its only a car and a pretty basic model at that, but, I've definitely fallen for the cars charm, Hope to get a few years out of her.. Edited October 7, 2012 by Joecard71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianGT Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Bought a gen 6 1.8 a few years back as a cheapie when my car failed its mot, idea was run it til failed its mot bin it and get something else - six years later it finally failed an mot despite being totally abused, filled with all sorts of stuff, it'd get oil if the light came on and that was about it. Had some tyres and brake pads and a secondhand caliper in that time but nothing else. Even when it sold with no mot it went to someone who was going to put the bits right and use it. For its reliability, usefullness and being great to drive the next car was a no brainer, but this time the vert which wants for nothing and the gen 5, love the flip up lights and the look of it so thats my winter ride and great fun in the snow You know Arizona.........not much has changed! Back then they were noted for reliability but suffered bodily........so people just ran them until they failed the MOT or didn't do something they should! Glad you got your money's worth..........and more! Joe.....great read! I know what you mean about "lesser" cars...... Back in the 70's I was with a bunch of mates that went scuba diving. One weekend a friend asked if it would be ok to bring someone from his work along......we all said no problem. I was driving a Rover 2000 at the time and we had Austin 1100's, a Landrover and a Triumph 1500 amongst us.........and this guy drove up in a spaceship! A Celica! It had a rev counter!! An oil gauge!! It looked like it came from the future! I had to have one! About 3 weeks later MPP 592L came in as part exchange to the non Toyota garage I worked at and she was mine!! And from her I visited the local dealer for parts and finally got a job there........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 when i was 5 a man down my road bought a brand new gen4 and i used too look at every day and said Id buy one, one day - 20 years later I bought a 7 (and then bought a gen4 too!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianGT Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 when i was 5 a man down my road bought a brand new gen4 and i used too look at every day and said Id buy one, one day - 20 years later I bought a 7 (and then bought a gen4 too!) A true dream fulfilled! Well done mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splinter Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) mine came about from brand loyalty i guess. for years a cadet training for my job i was running a lowly 1.4 ghia mk2 fiesta. i had wanted an MR2 for years, and after i qualified i finally got the money together and went for a nicely modified MR2 Turbo, in white obviously! had fun with that loved it to pieces! but i wanted a car that had more seats, as few times i came a cropper with only one spare seat. so i looked to the MR2's bigger brothers, the supra and Celica. Whilst looking for an MR2 i saw a Chilli Red Gen7 GT in a local MrT showroom, had a nosey round and looked over the specs - from there it was quite simply WANT! but, lack of rear drive put me off. i was ademant i wanted rear wheel drive. so i went with the MR2. but down the line i had to sell the MR2 to get the cash for a new house. about a year went past and was back on my feet so finally started looking for the car i had seen in the show room all those years ago. so i came onto here and GT4 owners club and hunted through the free add's. wasnt sure what model to go for, the nice new Gen7 or the old skool cool GT4. and then i came across two stunning examples of the gen 7 in white!! had to have one. after some dealings, i flew up to fife in scotland to meety with Wullie. a deal was done and i then faced about a 500 mile drive home through some epic sceanery in scotland, and the rest of england aaaaaal the way to portsmouth on the south coast. i think i was beaming from ear to ear all the way, epic first drive. now its become an obsession, and also the reason for bringing me and Nurse Amy together which is awesome in itsself! And some time in the future i will creat the Gen 7 i always wanted, rear drive and turbo'd - a cross between the power and drive of the GT4 - MR2 and looks of the Gen 7. Edited October 7, 2012 by splinter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimba Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 I started with a KA, after I got no claims and knew I was good at driving I started to walk along roads writing car names down of the ones I liked (realistically), and then I see a Celica but just thought sod it, its gonna be expensive to buy, run and insure .. so I got home and all the realistic cars I jotted down I researched them, reliability, cost, comfort, insurance just everything ... Then I remember about the Celica, I did insurance first just to see how much more it would cost, thinking it would be through the roof, and then I saw it, £100 cheaper than my KA, I couldn't believe it, I thought there must have been an error so I went on other insurance places, and they all came up around the same price, then I had to look at reviews about them, I was just like ... Holy shit its perfect, I thought shit I'm gonna probably have to do overtime to get my money building up to buy one, I want on eBay to see how much I needed, expecting at least 5k, ... £2000-3000 , I had the money to buy one, pay insurance all off and still have money to do whatever. I was over the moon, so for a few weeks I searched and searched until one caught my eye, then I see my one, clean as you like, standard, full service, new brakes, new bolts, new bits and bobs, 190 version for £2800, and I fell inlove with it, my dad said was alot for your first real car and really tried to put me off, so I left it ... A week later it was still there, so I phoned him up and asked if he still had it, to which he did, I shouted its mine, I want it, I'll have it, when can I get it ... Tomorrow he said, 200 miles away was where he lived. On the night I told dad I'm getting up early for work.."on your day off? You feeling alright" . Next morning came I shot up and went, when I got there I was so fucking excited to see it, 200miles was along way for me, travelling all this way, money ready and I didn't even test drive it before talking, I knocked on the door of the most beautiful house, met my a well decent bloke, suited and booted, well looked after .. and his Mrs was stunning, I thought fuck yeah, this car has definitely been well looked after, he showed me all around, told me what he's done, all the good bits, and pointed out what he thought was bad, a flakey sunroof lol, and that was it I told him to count my money and the deal was done, about to start the car "I filled it with vpower this morning" he said, full tank of awesomeness and I loved it .. drove it all the way home with a massive smile on my face Got home, parked it in my dads garage, few hours later he was due to come home, I bumped in the car and waited .. he pulled up outside the garage, got half way lifting the garage door, and then I turned my engine on .... He shit his pants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaungt4 Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Started years back when my dad would have nothing but Toyotas. when i passed my test all thoughs years ago yep i got a 950 fiesta lol worked my way up getting better cars then 2 years ago ended up with a calibra which i had always liked but was a big let down. Thought to myself i'm gona get a Toyota. Looked through Ebay and came across the Gen 5 JDM Gtr, No bids no watchers starting price £350 was out when it finished but no one had bid on it so emailed the seller and said would you take £300 for the car and i will be their in the hour to pick it up, She agreed so that was that an hour later it was on my drive looking a bit worse for ware. Now it looks like this 8 months later i bought the Gen 4 vert to go with the Gen 5 so now have 2 Celicas Hear are both of them and wouldn't get rid of either of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermoacc Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) Spent my "youth" with Fords. Sierra Cosworth, Escort turbo etc....Started to cost way too much money and with a family, it was getting a bit too selfish to continue with my hobby. I then grew up and had a few Lexus, GS300 and the LS400. Awesome cars, but the fuel they drank blew them out of the picture! Liked the Celica Gen5 since I first seen one in 1990 when in college. Always wanted one from that day. As I have had company cars the last 15-years, it's difficult to justify an indulgence car with the wife, but the Celica fits just right! Cheap to insure and run, cant fault it! After driving a french oil burner all week, it's a pleasure to drive the Celica! Edited October 7, 2012 by thermoacc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Boy 1 Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) I was looking for a "sports type" car about 3 years ago, after having many boring old rep-mobile type cars. The only car I have owned that was remotely sporty was a Mk 1 VW Scirrocco which I absolutely loved. Kids and general family life took over. Then one of my mates bought a Mk1 Lotus Elise. I had helped him source it and looked after some of the mechanical bits for him as I had access to the factory information. He used to (and still does) lend it to me for the odd times he'a away. This led me to wanting a "mid life crisis car" The main criteria was it had to be a 4 seater and not too expensive to run or maintain. Anyway that led me down the line of either of the following. Hyundai Coupe, Honda Integra or Civic, Celica or RX7 or 8. Anyway a Gen 6 GT came up for sale in Boston, Lincs. which my wife found on the net. It was a quick phone call and a trip up there from Norwich on a Friday afternoon. When we got there my son, who was 15 at the time said" Dad, you have to buy it" that was even before we had got out of the car. It was right at the top of my budget and the guy wasn't keen on budging far from the price. I must have spent 2 hours looking over the car, had it up on ramps trying to pick faults with it. Anyway, Mr & Mrs Fat and their Fat kids turned up and said "We want to look at the Celica". My son said "Dad, you can't let the car go to them, they would kill it" With that a deposit was thrust into the hand of the guy who was selling it and I picked it up the following week. After owning it for a couple of days I then found CCUK, one of the most helpful bunch of guys (& Gals) on the net. Yes the car has had a couple of minor issues, but Smiles for miles it's got to be one of the best cars I've owned or driven for some time. I've even persuaded a couple of people to actually go and buy a Celica which they love, one of my work colleagues has just got a very low mileage 25th Anniversary and is now looking to add to the family with a Gen 5. With my Celica......I still love it, it's got presence,it looks and sounds good (Too good for Norfolk Police) I just love it.Long may it last. Edited October 7, 2012 by Monkey Boy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 got bored driving a friggin mondeo , always had coupes in the past , so looked for something retro and sporty , wanted a mk2 golf git 3 door 16 valve in white with big bumpers and bbs rims , and bought a black gen 4 !!! see it on ebay one night , though thats a bit different , put a bid on , went to bed and woke up 7 hours later the winner , since then its a case of better the devil you know , there are better cars out there ( an that IS the truth) , but after 6 years of celicas , i would be lost under a different engine bay plus i love my pop ups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottChester Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) The white big bumper 3dr gti with Bbs rims was the car I always wanted too :-) I've always liked coupes and after a number of little hatches including a corsa Sri, a Clio 16v and polo I got a rover coupe turbo... Then a Megane coupe which I sold I my mate wen i got a company car, after 4 years in a company car I moved jobs and needed a car, having just moved house my budget was 2k and I needed a reliable coupe, it was a toss up between a gen6, a gen 7 and a BMW coupe All the bmws seemed to have rusty wheel arches and the 7s seemed to be in nicer condition than the 6's (probably just cos they were newer) so that's how I got mine Ah, and I had an Astra gte for 3 weeks at one point, piece of shiz that was Edited October 7, 2012 by ScottChester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianGT Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) mine came about from brand loyalty i guess. for years a cadet training for my job i was running a lowly 1.4 ghia mk2 fiesta. i had wanted an MR2 for years, and after i qualified i finally got the money together and went for a nicely modified MR2 Turbo, in white obviously! had fun with that loved it to pieces! but i wanted a car that had more seats, as few times i came a cropper with only one spare seat. so i looked to the MR2's bigger brothers, the supra and Celica. Whilst looking for an MR2 i saw a Chilli Red Gen7 GT in a local MrT showroom, had a nosey round and looked over the specs - from there it was quite simply WANT! but, lack of rear drive put me off. i was ademant i wanted rear wheel drive. so i went with the MR2. but down the line i had to sell the MR2 to get the cash for a new house. about a year went past and was back on my feet so finally started looking for the car i had seen in the show room all those years ago. so i came onto here and GT4 owners club and hunted through the free add's. wasnt sure what model to go for, the nice new Gen7 or the old skool cool GT4. and then i came across two stunning examples of the gen 7 in white!! had to have one. after some dealings, i flew up to fife in scotland to meety with Wullie. a deal was done and i then faced about a 500 mile drive home through some epic sceanery in scotland, and the rest of england aaaaaal the way to portsmouth on the south coast. i think i was beaming from ear to ear all the way, epic first drive. now its become an obsession, and also the reason for bringing me and Nurse Amy together which is awesome in itsself! And some time in the future i will creat the Gen 7 i always wanted, rear drive and turbo'd - a cross between the power and drive of the GT4 - MR2 and looks of the Gen 7. Great story! I too love rear wheel drive......it's what I grew up with! Lot's of Celica love from you guys! Mine was a midlife crisis too...aided by the fact that if I didn't do it now there wouldn't be any Gen 1's left to do! My eldest son had a Jap import GT4 for a short time......it went really well and I loved driving it but it was a bag of shit really! It had a load of odd bits on it and was always breaking something....he got rid in the end. My youngest son had a Gen7 Celica for about a year.....nice comfy car and great on the motorway. Edited October 7, 2012 by BrianGT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonwref Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) Saw a gen5 when I was 11 years old at 89 NEC motorshow. Love at first sight. bought the rally poster for my wall. And 21 years later I bought the real thing! Edited October 7, 2012 by simonwref Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherv Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Born and bred Ford man,though through the rallying always liked the Toyotas,when i was in my early driving days a Celica was way out of the question though,my Dads mate had a gen4 and it was new too...wow. Anyway looking for a project car in 2009 i came across a sorry looking red(pink) gen4 at the bottom of the road with a phone number in the window and a 300 quid price tag.Hadnt seen one for years,and i thought ooh ...Drove past it every day for a week,looked at it about 6 times and realised i should just stop messing about because i knew i was going to buy it LOL.Phone the number! Drove it,had many issues so beat the price down to 190 quid with 3 months tax and MOT and drove it the 600 yards back up the road to my drive. A long and rusty road it turned out to be But we get there Bit of a labour of love...but at the time i didnt realise how much car you can get for the money with a Celica,ok ive put a fair bit of money into the car but still a damn sight less than i could get an oldish mondeo for!And technically the car was way ahead of its time,and people are still surprised when they see the electric one touch windows,sunroof,A/C, PAS,discs all round,etc etc.Pop up lights and rally heritage ,what more could i want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianGT Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 The Sherv......."But we get there"...........we do indeed! That car looks fabulous! another one rescued from the grave......well done mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlasumm Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 (edited) always love the gen5 since their rallying days then by chance my sister found one in london for £260 which had been sat in a farms field for nearly 1 1/2 years so she brought it for me for my 40th birthday dents all over and needed a lot of work but heres how she looks two years later Edited October 7, 2012 by carlasumm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianGT Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 It's hard to believe that car sat in a field! Great job on restoring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris H72 Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I had lusted after the gen7 celica since it first came out but at the time there was no way I could ever afford one. I also had a wife who would never let me have one! The wife left about three years ago and after I realised that I could manage on my own financially I decided to change the old 5 door focus for something a bit more sporty. Of course my first thoughts were a tidy celica. Trouble is I can be a bit of a pussy at times and bottled it because I do a lot of miles and worried about running costs and reliability of an older car. Instead I bought a nearly new Peugeot 207 gt diesel which I thought would offer sporty looks and drive, good performance but also be economical to run. I hated that bloody car! In the year I had it dozens of things went wrong which all had to go through main dealer because of the warranty and on top of that if drove like a shed, heavy and stodgy and much less fun than my focus was. So diesel was not for me. I knew I wanted a sporty coupe but it also had to have a decent boot to carry my digital piano that I use for gigs most weekends. A celica right! No.......not yet. A friend of mine had a ten year old ford puma which he was always raving about. I liked the way it looked and had read great things about the drive. Looked on autotrader and was amazed at how cheap they were to buy and being ford I knew if anything went wrong it wasn't going to break the bank. So I bought a mint condition puma with low mileage and I have to say it was a fantastic car. Nothing bad went wrong and I loved driving it. Sadly all pumas suffer from rust, particularly on the rear wheel arches and it wasn't long before mine started to go too. I had a little bit of money saved up so started looking at celicas over the summer this year. I didn't really intend to buy one just yet as I was still enjoying the puma and knew it wasn't worth much if I sold it, especially as I had spent a bit on tyres, servicing, cambelt and things. But then I noticed a nice t sport at a great price at a local car supermarket. It had just come in and I knew it wouldn't be around for long so I went to check it out. Must admit my expectations were low, I did think it would be tatty for the money and maybe had been traded because it had problems. When I got there I couldn't believe how great the contrition was, it drove brilliantly and felt really solid. Bought it there and then! And then managed to sell my little puma privately for quite a good price so it really hasn't cost me that much to change. I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts