Ok guys lets hear just for fun.... Tell your fellow comminity members how you met you celica and how it became yours

I was wicked pissed at an ex-GF...She hated imports...I never owned one and was driving past a dealership selling a dark grey one.. I was like..hmm...pulled in..
took it for a test drive and liked the throttle response...
At the time I was just looking for a daily driver to and from work..I was driving a 5-Speed Saturn SL2...
Went back to the dealership..handed the dude $2,000 and said...I want that car ready by 5pm..And so..that's it.. aha
Anyways.. I just liked the way it looked and drove...then about 2 years later.. I got the mod bug..and have been going ape **** ever since! who0 ho0

I was drunk, had too many beers, thought it was a tib, slept with it, woke up, surprised.

my father wated to buy me a car for graduation, so he did. I didn't know about it until it was waiting for me at home. I didn't know much about celica's at the time, so did a lil research, and the results are in my profile.

i got my Celica for $3000. i was lookin for a car after my car (nissan 240sx) got wrecked. the celica was parked @ a Stater Bros n' had a for sale sign. Original price was $5500 but my dad offered him the payment in cash so we lowered it to $3000. >>

At first I saw the seventh gen, and I liked the looks, and when I was researching I found out that it was wayyy outta my price range, and ended up seeing a few pictures of the sixth gen, which I started to like even more. I looked around online for a while, but there are almost no sixth gens over here in the bay area of California, and the ones I could find were very expensive.

After not finding anything for a couple months, I impulsively bought an auto trader in the store with my g/f, and saw a nice red coupe in there. I called when we got home, and we went with my mom to visit the car later that day. After a couple hours of looking at the car, there was no turning back for me. I couldn't drive it yet, but I didn't care about power at all back then.

A few days later, after the dealer fixed the trunk struts and a mechanic that was our family friend had checked it out, it was all mine...ahh the memories.

Well, I had a Bimmer went to jersey an assholes dont know how to drive. so It got wrecked.. Then It took about 2 months to get my money figured out. Then My moms friend said she knows a great guy that sells only toyotas, im like h, I dont like toyotas much.. Then I checked the net and said well in my price rang, or what i wanted to spen.. i wouldnt mind a black celica hatch that would have to be 5 spd.. So I went there, an thats exactly what he had.. It was his sons an hes a mechanic.. took it for a test drive, an liked it alot better then my bros civic, whitch is what ive been driving for the lil bit. I liked the style... and senc ei needed a car in a week, I bought it, well he gave it to me, then when i got my check from the insur an it cleared I paid him the money lol.. an thats it... an so far its lasted longer then any of my other cars..

well, I wrecked my first car and got $3,000 insurance and was lookin' for a car. A person my father worked with had my celica for $4,500 so I saved up a grand or so and went and bought it. I think my parents pitched in some money to. Best damn wreck that ever happened to me. >>

I had a beater truck and was looking for an import to mod. Well I looked around for 1 and a half years. I must of wanted and test drove as many kinds of cars (lude vtec, GSRs, 240s, dsms,chevelles) but there would always be some **** reason I couldnt get one. My POS truck started to have a lot of problems and I needed a new car quick.

One sunny summer day, while running down on campus, shirtless with thousands of women throwing their panties at me, I saw my celi and her paint job was just the prettiest thing I've ever seen. Bought her a few days later.

I was sitting around the house one day in December of 2003 and thinking about replacing my 1991 Acura Integra that we got brand new 13 years ago. I knew I wanted a convertible and I knew I wanted some power. Having little kids, I knew I also had to have a back seat. So, I started thinking of my options. I came up with Mustang, Camaro/Firebird, and BMW 330ci. Since my budget was only $20,000, the Beamer was out. Although I enjoyed driving the other cars, there was just something about them I didn't like - it was an image issue I guess. Plus, I have always been partial to imports.

Then, I got the idea to buy a convertible without power and swap an engine. If I was going to do that, I knew I would need to reserve some money for the engine swap so we were going to necessarily be talking about an older car. For this reason, I narrowed it down to either a Honda or Toyota. Since Honda does not make a convertible with a back seat, my available options were: 5th gen Celica, 6th gen Celica, and late 90's Solara. While the Solara actually had more interior room and potential, it would have put me over my budget. By looks alone, I settled on the 6th gen.

I then started my research looking for, and finding out about, this car. I found out that the convertible's were only offered in Black, Red and White. I thought the Black looked the best so I started looking for a black convertible with leather and a manual transmission. After some time on Autotrader, I eventually found celica.net which lead me to 6gc.

After some preliminary research, I limited my search to 98's and 99's because I had read that the 95-97 convertibles had problems with top motors. I never confirmed this. I looked everywhere and quickly learned how low the production numbers were on these cars. I seriously considered flying to Washington state to buy one that looked pristine but it was too much because it only had about 50K miles. Most of the cars that I found were either in Florida, Texas or California.

During my search, I started vigorously researching the swap. I finally located a car in Madison Wisconsin in late February. It had 95,000 miles and looked like it was in pretty good shape. I drove about 3 hours to look at it and fell in love. It had some tears in the leather but the body and rest of the car looked very very good. A 9/10 for a car with that many miles. I bought it on the spot for $9100.

Since then, I have dumped another $8,000 into the modifications listed in my profile. I plan on getting my front seats recovered (or new seats), an upgraded turbo and some clean exterior modifications this winter / spring. Then I will be done. All in all, it has been a successful project so far.

My civic's engine was falling out so i sold it the day of the b-day (sat). saw it in the paper on sunday went to go see it , i loved it gave him a 25 bux deposit, picked it up on monday. better deal then my civic . $3,600 for the celica with 81k miles. i feel bad for my celica thow i put on about 11k miles in 3 months, lol and i live in the city

i was looking at cars and my mom spotted a 93 240sx. went to check it out, but it ran like crap. it was rough and shaking and the interior wasnt too great. then i saw the celi. looked at it fel in love. next day came home after soccer and it was my birthday and i saw the celi in the drive way. didnt have my license for another month but i still drove it around my neighborhood and that was a great ride.

-jgreening+Jul 28, 2004 - 10:59 PM

well i might as well post mine since i started it

i had a 99 dodge ram and i loved that truck it was great , we always had toyotas but they were camrys. ive always wanted an import so i looked into the new celicas....i was about to buy a 7th gen brand new with the action package but the deal fell threw cuz they couldnt locate one quick engouh.

so i was lost for awhile so me and my dad decided to buy an 03 HEMI ram and use the rest of the money from the trade in value for a used car

i started lookin at teg's and eclipses but they were overdone and not really my style...then i thought of the older celicas...ive always seen 4th and 5th gens but i wasnt too sure what the 6th gens looked like

i did my reasearch then i stumbled upon this site...when i saw the celica i fell in love ..then without hesitation i began looking for one

a few weeks later i found a 94 blk gt coupe with power everything for 4k
i knew then this was the car i wanted so i got my dad and money and bought my baby....(insert comic book guys voice)best investment ever!

I was out car shopping, my dad told me to look for something under $20k as a grad gift.
Found a nice 98 Dodge Ram 4x4 shortbed. Black with black interior, tint windows, CD, lift, aftermarket rims and swamp tires, dual side exhaust.
It was sweet.
i loved it.
I told them to hold it till tomorrow so i can get my dad in there to get it for me.
came back in the next day and it was already sold.
i bitched them out about it, but wasn't anything i could do cause i didn't put a deposit on it.

decided to take my mom over to another dealer to check out a PT cruiser(she loves them).
while we were there there was a lil red celica sitting next to it.
I actually didn't like it at first. Little, ugly, 4 cylinder.
Dealer came out and saw me looking at it, threw me the keys and put a plate on it and told me to take it for a spin.
I did, i actually started getting into the car.
came back and told them that i would get ahold of them later that day.
called them that night b4 they closed and told them i would be in in the morning to pick it up.

Dad hated it cause he was born FORD and it was a toyota, but i wanted it so i got it.

3 years later he tells me how he likes my car, even though it isn't american.

back in '97 i was in the market for a car. I saw one drive down the road and BAM! that was it. No more shopping or looking around. That was the car! After i found out it also came in a vert model, i tracked the perfect one down at a dealership and the rest is history.

when I was a little kid, i used to watch rally racing on tv and always liked the 5th gen GT4 and then later when i grew up i bought a 5th gen celica. then i wrecked it so i bought a 6th gen celica. >>

This post has been edited by NYCelica: Jul 28, 2004 - 9:09 PM

i was driving bye the dealership and i saw a pretty red shine, so i drive closer and im loook oooo mommmy prettttttttttty!@# lol. so i drove home... a couple days later i told my mom i wanted to look at it closer.. well she already test drove it... i saw it, test drove it... talked with parents.... they said yes.... i bought it for 8700 with 75000ish miles.

i think this thread was a good idea

i started driving in a 88 chevy nova.. it was a fun car, and i loved it.
after 4 months of driving the family beater, i got rear ended after work.

The car was totalled.

so after a couple months of looking for another car, i had no luck. A friend of mine from another city saw a red convt and told me to look at it the next day. So i made a little trip to look at it, and i was terriably dissapointed. The car was in horrible condition. But in the same lot acouple cars over i saw my 97 black celica with 53k miles. I researched the kbb of the car an the mpg, and was convinced that it was a perfect car for me. I called the guy selling the car several times that day and with no luck he didn't answer his phone. Just about time i was about to leave, He called me back and i paid cash for it right then and there.

I've owned another 6th gen ST back in around 97-98... and I abused the hell out of that poor car. It was built n/a for autoX and didn't smog too well. After about a 2 years or so, I forget how long, but I came across my current car with a for sale sign posted on it. I bought it for 2500 (extremely CHEAP) at the time from a woman who was getting divorced or something like that. Had low miles, great clean condition, but needed a tune-up BAD. It was originally purchased for my dad, but soon afterwards, my old ST crapped out on me and this one became my main car.

I was only 15 still 5 months til i got my license. Went to the delaership to look a V6 Mazda MX6. Drove that, but it was in need of a paint job...drove an Teggy GSR but had some wheel problems and didnt wanna bother with that, drove a 95 Probe GT but didnt really like it much....drove the Celi...loved it. I liked the looks so I got it on the spot. I loved it for a while and after about 6 months of it I have hated it since. Too slow, bought a 3rd gen RX7 got stolen...bought a MKIII supra and a 2nd gen rx7 with insurance money....sold them bought my Rex and now just bought my 00 Clipse.

How do you afford that.

After having a 2.5l diesel montero for 5 years it was time for a new car. As i was in love with the Celi since my father had a 1st gen and being a huge fan of the wrc and toyota, i decided on the celi. Unfortunately it was too expensive for a JDM. My uncle (used car dealer) imported a Curren quite chiep because it was not as marketable as the Celi and i loved it because it was unique but had a Celi SS2 170bhp engine in it. 4 years later, i was considering the swap and called my uncle's japan guy for an engine. An accident car gt4 with only 15000 km was also available so i got both(engine and gt4) together with all parts needed to be fixed.

i had my first celica at 1997 a 5 th generatin celi. i was thinkin of swap 3sgte engine on it. then i saw a wonderfull st 205 at a gallery. newer model and more powerfull engine. i think to my self this is it.
here is my ex 5 th gen celi


This post has been edited by tufy: Jul 29, 2004 - 10:50 AM

July 4th weekend of 2000 my brother told me about rare care. so we check it out and it was a celica. at the time 6th gens where kinda rare and still are. so he test drove it i loved it and picked it up. only thing was that I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE STICK! no biggy had my friend jump in the car with me and i learend how to drive stick on the way home. buy the time i got home i got the hang of it and was even happier with the car.

November 2003:

Old 1985 S10 is sitting up on jack stands out front. Exhausted from working morning to night on it I decided to donate the piece of crap to the kidney foundation. Went out looking for a Toyota Tacoma, found Celi first and 9,000 dollars later here I am, happy as can be and wouldn't have it any other way.

ok just to let u guys know when i first saw the celica i didnt like it.
ok it all started on this game called tokyo racer zero for ps2, anyway when i got the game and check out what cars there are the first car that came up was the celica gt4 of course i didnt like it so i chose other cars but afterwards i got bored and decided what other cars look like so i chose the celica gt4 and start putting kits and stuff on it and bam !!!! it started looking better than any other cars in the game and i was like whoa !!!!! this car is sexier than a supra then i started to do custom paint to it and leaned towards orangey yellow metallic look and damn did it look gooooooooooood. after that i started putting logos on it and the car was sexier than ever with veilside kit it was nice and with 500 hp hehehehe.
after that i started checking out the car on the net and ebay too and i was really impressed and i was wondering why i dont see many celica around my area so then 1 year later i got the car

all inspired by the game
oh ya i been playing grand torismo 3 alot just to look at the car cuz its sooo damn nice

I didnt like it either. My first car was an 87 nissan pulsar. it was slow but it had t-tops and a removable hatch. I drove that for about two years till the headgasket blew. I had already been looking for a car to buy, and i really wanted an s13 or s14, or an mx-6 (my dad has a probe gt, and i really like it but i didnt want 2 probes sitting in the driveway) so my engine blew and i needed something quick. after a few weeks we saw the celica, and i didnt really want it, but by that time i needed a car, and at 5k, it barely fell into my budget. since then i have fallen in love with it, minus its slight lack of power. but there arent that many cars that look better.

Ok first off I have owned 5 cars:
90 Geo Prizm Hatchback- 190,000 miles (sold for 500 cash)

94 Celica ST Hatchback- 94,000 miles (sold for 4900 cash) I began looking for a cooler car than a prizm. Narrowed it down to a Prelude, Eclipse or a 7 Gen Celica. All 3 of them were outta my price range. Until I looked at Autotrader, I had only seen 5th and 7th gen celicas. When I was in high school I was assigned a parking spot next to a girl in a different grade who had a 5th gen. Everyday I walked past it and I really liked the styling. Saw 6th gen for the first time in a picture...I really liked it. Test drove a Silver fully loaded 95 ST hatch 5-speed that a local guy had. I told him that i knew how to drive stick but it had been awhile (LOL man was I lying). That was rough, he sold it an hour after I left his house.

So then I found a 94 ST Automatic Hatchback. Guy let me drive it by myself on a Saturday morning. I was coming up to an intersection and some kids were having a car wash, and when i was stopped at the red light, a kid came up to me and said hey Mr. do you want your Celica washed. Hearing "your celica" totally sold it to me haha, Im so cheezy). Bought it for 5700 with 80k miles. I couldnt afford financing it with my outrageous insurance so I decided to sell it.

92 Geo Prizm Sedan - 130,000 miles (Got sandwiched on the highway)
93 Geo Prizm Sedan - 160,000 miles (Bought for $900, daily beater)

95 Celica GT Hatchback 5 speed -
Got a new job making roughly twice what I was prior. Found it at a local dealership. Bought for 6000. So much more fun with 5 speed and 2.2L engine. Plan on keepin her till she dies. If I start making like 40,000 a year then 3S-GTE swap will happen >> >>