But the Celica was an important leap in Toyota's history because it spawned some of the most influential cars for them over the years: The Camry and the Supra were both models of the Toyota Celica that later became their own lines. 1982 marked the first year the Camry was offered as it's own model, and 1986 marked the beginning of the Supra.
But this one, the '85 GT-S, what is it like now that it's a "classic?" Well for starters, it's a time machine, which is exactly what every classic car should be. Stepping into an 80's car is sort of like stepping into 80's pop culture, you can really get a sense of what was important and interesting at the time. This one is no exception. Pop a Van Halen cassette into the tape deck and you will be transported back to a time when your mom had big frizzy hair and Timothy Dalton was shooting Iranians for her majesty's secret service.
As for the car though: the interior is entirely brown, the wedge shaped body is very angular, and the ridiculousness of the amenities consumes the driving experience. Like the lumbar support on the driver's seat for example: It's operated by an air pump, and then adjusted where the lever to operate it should have been. It's really quite amazing, and it fits very easily to hand next to the stick shift. There are other 80s features as well: pop up headlamps at the front, metal louver (sunshade) at the back, and a digital clock right in front of you on the dashboard (something Chrysler still haven't heard of).
Open up the hood and you'll be greeted with a very familiar sight: the 22R-E engine. A staple for Toyota cars, trucks, and SUVs in one form or another, for almost 15 years. This was the biggest engine ever put into a Toyota Celica. At 2.4 liters, it produced 115 horsepower and while that doesn't sound like much, keep in mind that it only weighed 1 1/4 tons (assuming there was nobody fat inside). Couple that with an independent rear suspension, and a 5 speed manual transmission; and you will find that the ride is surprisingly smooth and pleasant compared with other cars of the decade. Which is why so many of your parents bought it.
However, most surprising is why there are almost none of them left. The "Cash for Clunkers" scheme scrapped many great cars from, what might have been, long and purposeful lives. This car escaped unscathed, but many didn't. And now, unfortunately, we're left with only pictures and memories of what was once a very common-place sight on the road. But this does help me come back to my original point: what is this car like as a classic? Well it's a future classic. Not a traditional Nova or Mustang classic, but a new one. These are the Generation X classics. The cars our moms and dads had when they went off to build printers at HP or try to cope with something called "Regan-omics." In a time when iPhones weren't necessary to take orders at restaurants and hair metal was still in it's heyday.
Bring it to a dealership or into a shop and you'll be greeted as a hero, a legend of time travel who has come in with an interesting car. Not some eco-box that needs a new battery pack. At least that's the experience I had when I took it to the local Toyota dealer this afternoon. I imagine they get quite bored with all the Corolla's and Prius's.
It therefore ticks all the classic car boxes: Parts are getting hard to find and unreasonably expensive, it's interesting, a period piece, and it can still turn heads.
The Mk. IV Celica is considered to be the "best," because it's more powerful. But to be honest, it doesn't look as good, and it isn't as interesting. Plus it has front wheel drive and that's kind of BORING. This one doesn't and you can believe me that I'll be having a lot more fun power sliding and skidding about than if I had a fourth gen.
This brings me to my final, and most important point: just because something is old doesn't make it completely worthless. We have a way in this great society of ours to ditch older products, and indeed people, once something newer and flashier comes along. I for one would much rather have something old and interesting like this that works, versus something newer and boring that doesn't. Toyota didn't design this car to live this long, but it does. And that's worth saving.
