How did you feel when you bought your first ever Celica ?

My first drive on my first celica was amazing, it was my first car too so you can imagine my excitement. It felt so amazing especially on the first trip to my house. It was raining, but I still managed to clock 50km's on the first drive just because I felt like driving.

 

ahhh....the first time...felt like .... the first time ! I had a starlet before and when driving away with the celica I felt impressed by it's size and total image. then I took on a vw Golf, beat it and it felt like i'm king of the road...and still I am when driving my lone wolf

 

When I first drove my brother's ST162, it scared the sh*t out of me I only had my drivers license since a couple months, so I was very unskilled and after the first harder acceleration I was scared and drove very carefully.

Years later, when I bought my one, the first trip was 750km back to my country and I loved it

 

I had to wait 15yrs before I saw one in real life - it was in Brisbane in 2003, a tatty looking red 162 and I knew what my next car was going to be.
I still own my 1st car (Alfa) I bought in 1983, so I'm pretty loyal but the looks of the 162 are unique.

Sometimes I wish I had a Corolla or something too - the Alfa and Celi stand out like dog's knuts wherever I go and people hoot and wave & I don't know who they are

Anyhow I found the pic of that 1st car, guys in Brizzy probably recognize it -


When I got to NZ, bucks were short and cars were expensive. My girlfriends sister's boyfriend told me he had been given a Celica in lieu of payment and wanted $150 fot it - deal.
When I got there I realised it was a Corona 162 but that didn't matter, wheels is wheels





Then a white automatic Celica 162 was standing on the pavement for $400, so I had 2 cars and realised that they were identical (apart from the front). I swapped all the stuff I wanted into the white one and sold the Corona for $1 (NUTS)... some guy got a running, licenced car for $1 and I still kick my ass every thime I think of it

 

I learned to drive in my first Celi, so it had a special place right from the start. The day I got my license the keys to it were handed to me. I had more of a love affair with the car than my first husband LOL!

 

I actually picked this car up on a whim on craigslist while looking for a car. I had a $1000 budget and I stumbled upon this 89 ST162 not too far from me. I decided to drive down there and take a look...that was in June. My wallet or girlfriend hasn't forgiven me since.

 

i inherited mine from my grandmother....it took a 2300 mile trip just to see me.....it was a coupe in near perfect shape with only 37k....i bought my flatliner when i wrecked the first one for 400 bucks and i was feeling pretty good doing over 100 mph on the freeway for about 3 exits before the radiator exploded. thats when life got exciting.

 

I had my first experience with a st162 when i was working in my first garage and my boss had a st162 sitting outside doing nothing all year long and then once the local rally came up we would jump start it and it would start and run for the full day. no issues after a year after sitting outside, and i was in shock how a car that old could do that with no issues and the power and speed was just shocking for its size, so i was set on getting one but just didnt have the cash. so for my 18th birthday i got one as a present from my parent, the last present i got while they were still together, so ya, it kinda means something. that was my experience

 

My first ever Celica was a 3rd-gen, I bought it when I was on my learners licence so dad was in the car with me, and needless to say the first ever drive was very slow and careful!

To tell you the truth I don't remember a whole lot about my first drive of an ST162. The first one I sampled was a black SX with mag wheels and a big exhaust that I took for a test-drive with a view to purchasing. Being 18 or 19 at the time, mags+zorst=win, and I desparately wanted to buy it, however I was persuded to get a mechanic check it over before I handed over the hard-earned, and it got the thumbs down. The next one I looked at I DID end up buying, it was an 89 SX, one of the very last of the series, with the high-mount brake light in the rear window. This had much lower kms on it (about 127000 if i recall) and full service history so it got the green light. It cost me about $12,000 (the car was only 8 or 9 years old at this stage), which was a fair chunk of change for a teenager only making about $18k a year before tax, so I had to get a loan for it. The day I drove it home I was actually going to Canberra for the Summernats (the biggest street machine and hot rod show in the country). Not wanting to subject a car that I had literally just picked up to a 300km drive, and not particularly wanting to leave my new baby parked in Canberra at Summernats (which is populated mostly by pissed yobbo's, myself and mate Ben included :lol), I drove it home, parked it, hopped in the third-gen and fired off to Canberra!

So although details of the first time are a bit fuzzy, what I do recall in general about driving that car is that it had plenty of power and so much grip (I always had good tyres on it), I could fire it into any corner at silly speeds with complete confidence (looking back I'm not sure how I managed to keep my licence). I taught myself to heel-and-toe because the noise it made was fabulous. I'd take the long way home just for the hell of driving it, and when I got home I would feel disappointed because I was finished driving. It made me smile every time I looked at. And that's why I bought another one

 

I bought my celica almost 3 years ago!I was looking for a Japanese car (preference a honda) and I had 2000€,so I start searching...I always loved celicas especially 4th and 5th gen but I wasnt looking for one in that moment...until I saw that black celica and I had to bought it!I went to see the car and in that moment I knew that I had to buy it...but I had to wait 3 days until I could pick it up...I cannot sleep during 3 days lol
Driving it home was like a dream come true!
Everyone who looks at the car see's thats a very beautiful car but I think that the only ones who drive it knows the real feeling about this car...and I felt that when driving it home that day!

 

I bought my Linited Edition White Lightning 4 years ago. It was for sale on a scrappy bit of paper with a photo on a notice board at a small community supermarket. I liked the style and it was white, I knew it was a toyota but that was it.

I took the notice off the board, rang the dude, went round to check it out and bought it. This wealthy family had bought it for their daughter as a surprise first car, she wasn't happy because it is an auto hence the re-sale.

I drove it out their driveway, picked up my brother then went to the servo for gas. We then drove around the back of the servo, opened every thing up and did a once over for half an hour to work out how everything operated and then hit the road for an 80 klm test run (while my brother was reading all the books and services out loud) :lol

I had never driven anything like this before including a FWD and could'nt beleive how low I was sitting to the road and it seemed like I was going alot faster than the speedo was telling me :lol

I kept looking at the speedo and tacho and thought WOW, if this thing is sitting on 2K rpm at 100 kph......

I was immediatly impressed with the quiet ride, the power and the handling not to mention the comfort factor and it was (still is) just a beautifull car to drive and the fuel economy is sweet.

BUT........ Then I started searching the net for info on this car because I knew ZERO about it, the previous owner obviously didn't either because low and behold, I had scored a rare and beautifull Limited Edition 4th gen for chips.

Buying a BGB and finding this site is all I'v needed for info and repairs :cheers

 

about 3 years ago my friend got it for $750 off ebay, and have been around it ever since, drove it first when he owned it a couple times, then bought it 2 years ago as a second (nice) car. got it off him for $1100 and 2 10s system with alot of stuff replaced just since he owned it

 

well, unlike all of you, i HATED The Celica........ at least when i first bought it. being so young and asian at the time, all we talked about were hondas and all sorts of swaps that can be done them. drifting wasnt in yet, it was just barely starting to surface. so naturally i aspired to them, no offense. i originally wanted a crx. the crx's werent really build or seen cruising too often, but are still out there. well, anyways, The Celica was passed down to me by my older brother who bought it originally as a commuter aka "beater" from one of his co-workers as Toyota for $500. for the older members on the site, you all know what work i've put into it to make it the way it is. but, slowly and surely, my love for the car grew. honestly, i owe it all to the forum. without the forum, i wouldnt know what to do, or what potential the car had. all i saw when i first got the car in 2007 was an old PIECE OF SHEET!!! i was like, "really? its mine?..........damn." but i still remember the very first JDM part of bought for the car like it was yesterday. i happen to stumble upon it on ebay, and you guys wouldnt believe who sold it to me either! it was our very own REVHEAD aka Rob. since then, no other jdm parts for our cars have been posted for sale on ebay. so i'm very fortunate to have found it. and from there i found the forum by our ever so trusty online search engine, google. well, The Celica was the very first car i learned to drive manual, so i owe it a lot! without it, i'd be clueless about manual transmissions. and at the time i just got my drivers license too, so it was pretty much my first car as well.
now, all i see is beauty and plans that have yet to finish every time i see The Celica