Vehicle Description
1980 Toyota Celica ST Convertible
Throughout the 1970s, Americans were becoming more safety conscious
and were demanding higher standards from the NHTSA. Entrepreneurial
small businesses have always found a niche where large businesses
can't be cost-effective and in the late 1970's and early 1980's,
numerous coachbuilders in America stepped in to meet the steady but
small demand for convertibles. Sometimes they did a one-off
Cadillac, Mercedes, or Ferrari for an idiosyncratic individual.
Other times they bought cars in small quantities from the
manufacturer, converted them to convertibles and delivered them to
be sold in the automaker's new car showrooms.
With at least five companies converting Toyota Celica coupes to
produce about 3,000 custom Celica convertibles, these particular
cars are difficult to find. However, following our mantra "you
never know what's going to come through the door next", gracing our
Hallowed Halls and for consignment is a consignor stated 1 of the
1,000 estimated production run of cars converted by American Custom
Coachworks of Beverly Hills, CA. Production records are all second
hand as the facility was consumed by a fire and all records were
lost and all that remains are secondary data and the few cars that
have survived the years. Not only did this example survive, but it
continues to thrive with its original window sticker, tons of
service records and a timeless look that was much appreciated
during the days of no factory-built drop tops.
Exterior
Bathed in its original red hue, (no fancy names like today), this
custom drop top sports a black rubber bumper up front just below
the stainless trim highlighted protruding black plastic grille with
outboard quad rectangle headlights. Adorning the hood is the Celica
Dragon logo, why was this ever dropped? A lower body trimming in
satin black and stainless is on and runs the full length of the
sides of the car stopping about 1/3 the way up the doors and
fenders. A thin stainless band encircles the passenger compartment
and vies for space along with black plastic around the raked back
windshield. All panels are good with well minded gaps, but we note
some invasive rust and some prior repairs on the rockers, otherwise
the body remains rust free. 14-inch chrome wire wheels are wrapped
in blackwall rubber and up top is a black convertible canvas top
with some staining and a 3-piece clear plastic rear window. A small
trunk lid flows down to the multi-colored taillights and a sporty
light up "CELICA" filler panel. Sporty but practical, all in red
paint.
Interior
Puffy overstuffed but sporty upgraded black leather buckets with
age wrinkles and a few repaired tears are seen in front of the
original dash. These chairs have large bolsters to aid in comfort
and keep you in that seat when negotiating a curve possible at too
high of a speed! In back, a bench, in the original black vinyl,
which takes the form of 2 bucket seats with a common mid panel
fills the space between the inner panels. Nice black carpeting
floods the floor, and for the doors we see a mix of black vinyl,
black carpeting and a peppering of chrome for delineation, window
cranks and door release bezels. A center console with the parking
brake lever, various switches, frontal storage and the shifter
races between the seats and ends under the black dash. Rounding out
the interior is a black topped dash pad with no cracks which hovers
over an applique coated cluster with 2 large round gauges and
smaller rectangle multi-gauge pods as well as the AM/FM/CD stereo
and the heater/defroster slides.
Drivetrain
A pop of the hood and we see an original all unrestored 2.2 liter
20R 4 cylinder engine. This is fed by a Weber 2bbl carburetor, (the
original carb is included), and has a 5-speed manual transmission
on back. The rear axle is a 4.10 geared version.
Undercarriage
Independent coil sprung suspension is seen on the front and a 4
link with coil springs is seen on the rear. Providing the stopping
power are power front disc brakes and power rear drums. The
surfaces of the floor pans, frame, and rockers are slightly faded,
patina'd and spattered with surface rust, otherwise all is
structurally sound. A single exhaust system is on with a factory
header, new catalytic converter and new muffler to efficiently
handle spent fossil removal.
Drive-Ability
My partner and crime and all around good guy wouldn't stop telling
tales of his ownership of a similar model Celica during his
misguided youth, so I gave him the keys and casually took the
passenger seat. The car fired right up and performed well on a
cruise, curvy road or our test track which includes both. All
functions were working fab, and it has some power to its traits,
and the top going down didn't hurt either.
Looking good for this hard to come by 1980 version is the Celica
with its near bulletproof 2.2 Liter 20R engine, updated Weber carb
and the luxury of top-down motoring from an era when soft tops were
taboo. Now readily available, in our halls of Classic Auto
Mall.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
