1987 Toyota Celica GT Coupe review from North America

At 192000 miles, I noticed a knocking that went faster or slower, depending on the RPM. I had it checked and I was told that I had "Spun a rob barring." From what I gathered, it was a small metal ring that allowed oil to go into the cylinder, when it spins out of place, oil can't go in. So we replaced it, 50 miles later, it knocked again. The Toyota dealer put a thicker and wider ring in and it lasted about 4 months. Finally, when the knocking came back, they took everything apart and told me that the reason my rings were being chewed up, was because the cylinder was warped and the lifter/pistons were rocking wrong and breaking down. $800.00 dollars later, my Celica had a new clutch, and 1995 Camry engine with 30,000 miles on it imported from Japan. Everything was wonderful, until the vacuum lines began to deteriorate, the power steering lines were cracked and I was replacing the fluid twice a week. Both front axles were clicking and broken, the suspension needed to be replaced, it was stalling due to the vacuum leaks and misc. grease all over the underside of the engine had worn things down. My options were to pay about $2000 dollars to have everything repaired, OR trade it in while it still had value. SO at 210000 miles, (45,000 on the new motor) I traded her in on a Plymouth Breeze. Not a wise choice I might add...but, live and learn.

Let me just say, I loved my Celica! It was a tiny, little, grey pocket-rocket! Once you got the hang of the performance, you could launch that little car like it was attached to a sling shot. I made one modification to the engine, the timing was about 2 marks ahead of manufacture specs, but it was like that when I bought it, I just maintained it. I would race people from time to time. I beat new Civic's, Prelude's, I beat CRX's Blazers, a V6 1994 Mustang, newer Celica's, Altima's, I even raced a 69 Nova, and was ahead from the line until about 85mph, then he got past me. That little car was a bullet. I loved it. I was surprisingly comfortable in this Micro-Machine. I am 6'2" around 260 lbs, and I fit comfortably. I would have liked a bit more head room, but it had the sliding sunroof and that took about 2 inches off the interior head room, spiky hair didn't stand a chance. The gas mileage was amazing. I never replaced the rear tires, they were 9 years old!!! and the tread was still good!!

If it weren't so old, and had I taken better care of the up keep, I would still have it. I loved it. Her name was Platinum. :-)