People often forget about the Toyota Celica GT-S, a high-performance hatchback car. Yamaha changed the engine to make 180 horsepower and achieve a very high redline. This model has a little more than 50,000 miles on it and comes from a year when the company did well. The choice from Bring a Trailer, a part of Hearst Autos, was a 1967 Toyota 2000GT priced like an invoice. It was a moving piece of art. Yamaha hand-builds this ultimate Japanese collector car in very small amounts. Because of this, some people might say it doesn’t really fit with Toyota’s plan to make everything in large quantities. The finding made today does, but it also sees the work done by Toyota and Yamaha. It’s a 2003 Toyota Celica GT-S. The “GT-S” name indicates a slightly different engine. This car’s 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder engine gives off 180 horsepower with a redline of 7,800 rpm. The power comes from a Yamaha-made cylinder head. This car has a six-speed manual transmission and needs to be serviced by an expert to keep it running at its top speed. Lotus believed this engine was good enough for the Elise, so it is clearly a good fit for a fun, small car like a fast compact hatchback. This Celica was based on the basic idea, not the last version, which had turned into a complicated, turbocharged beast. It used hatchback utility, a fairly low starting price, and a sporty chassis to appeal to younger buyers. In Long Beach’s yearly Pro/Celebrity race, which often turned into a pinball match, Toyota drove seventh-generation Celicas with stronger engines. A lot of these Celicas, even though they were good deals, didn’t last more than three or four owners. The seventh-generation car came out a year before The Fast and the Furious. Since then, many people who want to be like Dominic Toretto have damaged or over-revived Celicas, which have blown up oil tanks. Have peace in death. You left too fast, Junior. This car, however, only has 52,000 miles and was kept for most of its life by one person who clearly liked working on machines. The car has a few paint chips and no complaints on CarFax. It also has a good repair history. It was bought along with the “Action Package,” which comes with a number of aggressive-looking aero makeup. On the all-black car, it looks great. The Celica GT-S is an undervalued sports car because of its experience in Pro/Am racing and connection to Yamaha. You can get a unique little Toyota with a lively engine and lots of character for a lot less than a Lotus Elise or a 2000GT, which is hard to find. The 2000GT could be your Christmas gift if you’ve been good this year. This Celica GT-S isn’t a chunk of coal for the average person.
