1982 Toyota Celica GT review from North America

Right after buying it in 1991, it wouldn't run. Turns out, the carburetor had been sitting for 3 years and the carb was all gummed up. Sprayed in a little carb cleaner and the car hasn't stopped running since.

This is the only vehicle that I've owned where every time I've ever went to drive it, I was smiling ear to ear.

Fun car!

My `82 Celica is a responsive little car that handles extremely well. When turning, I can easily break the back wheels loose, drift the rear end around and with a little acceleration, pull out straight.

The driver seat messes with my mind -- it makes me feel like the car loves me back! Conforms to my body and hugs me tight.

I made the mistake of selling my Celica after college (I bought an image concious, luxury `92 Camary XLE with gold package - which is an excellent car, too), quickly, however, I realized how mistaken I was to sell the Celica. It took me almost 8 years to buy my Celica back.

My Celica was not in good condition when I bought it back, the guy trashed the interior and dinged up parts of the body -- fortunately not badly. Up until now, I've been cleaning it up little by little.

At the same time, over the past 5 years, I've been meaning to buy a new car. But I've test driven many of the new cars on the market and I don't get that "grin" and "feel" that I'm looking for. I can't think of any car/truck/SUV that I like better than my Celica. So, I've made arrangements for my Celica to be restored back to new condition over the next year and I plan to make it my daily driver when finished.

I'm dropping some serious money into it and my friends and family think I'm nuts but I'm at a point in my life that I don't care what anyone thinks about the car I'm driving; all that matters is that I enjoy my ride. I can drop $30,000 into a new, flashy car that leaves me feeling "ho hum" or $12,000 into a car I know I'll enjoy driving every time I'm in it.

That saying..."Life is about the journey not about the destination", in my case, I'm taking the trip as far as I can in my Celica!