Tag Archives: celica
Classic Toyota Celica and Truck appear in 2022 Superbowl commercial
Toyota has released their 2022 Superbowl ad, and it features a couple of classics. Toyota has chosen to focus not on the cars, but on two real-life brothers, Brian and Robin McKeever, who are Olympic and Paralympic medalists. Much of … Continue reading
Happy TA22 Day from JNC
Toyota made 411,815 first-generation Celicas. It was a huge hit. You sure don’t see many around but, then again, it is more than 50 years old. Toyota sold 83,775 Scion FR-S/86 in the US and Canada during the car’s entire … Continue reading
A 1974 Toyota Celica has sold for $61,000
We don’t need to tell you that the acceptance of Japanese cars as collectible classics is pushing prices to previously unseen heights. Among some makes and models, values of so-so condition cars are shooting past what cream puffs once traded … Continue reading
Nicholas Cage drives a bugeye Celica in this bizarre Japanese movie
There’s a new trailer out for Prisoners of the Ghostland, a bizarre looking movie that takes place in some kind of Japanese Bartertown. It stars Nicholas Cage and, frankly, looks terrible, but there are at least some notable cars in … Continue reading
2021 All-Toyotafest, Part 01 — Starlet, Corolla, Celica, MR2
After a year and a half of no major car shows, it was good to be back. The 2021 Toyotafest picked back up right where 2019 left off, although a few changes had to be made due to the pandemic. … Continue reading
The Toyota Celica Liftback that sold for $62,000 is a gift from a loving wife
A 1976 Toyota Celica Liftback has sold for $62,000. That’s a new high for this model, and of course it appears to be in exceptional condition. However, perhaps the better hook here is the back story of why the Celica … Continue reading
VIDEO: A virtual tour of Toyota’s Motorsports Biography exhibit
The Toyota Automobile Museum’s excellent “Toyota Motorsport Biography: Everlasting Challenge Spirit” exhibit is scheduled to end on April 11. Sadly, travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented most overseas travelers from seeing it in person. However, the museum … Continue reading
Happy Daruma Celica Day from JNC
Today is February 2, or 2/2, as in TA22. As it happens, it’s a pretty good year to Celica-brate the Daruma. We just marked the 50th anniversary of the Celica a couple of months ago, and learned last week that … Continue reading
Toyota has filed for a trademark of the Celica name
Toyota has filed for a ownership of the name “Celica” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. While this might indicate nothing more than a desire to hold on to the rights to that name, there’s been some speculation that … Continue reading
50 YEAR CLUB: The Toyota Celica, a pivotal player in Japan’s car culture
Fifty years ago this day, on December 1 1970, the first Toyota Celica went on sale in Japan. It proved to be a groundbreaking car, the first of Japan’s production “specialty cars”, fashionable personal coupes based on a sedan chassis. … Continue reading
The Toyota Automobile Museum has opened a “Motorsport Biography” exhibit
“A harsh environment of competition toughens our people and cars,” said Toyota Motor founder Kiichiro Toyoda once said. It’s a quote framing the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, Japan’s newly opened an exhibit highlighting some of the company’s historic race … Continue reading
VIDEO: If you love Toyota Celicas, look away from this Pro/Celebrity race
For three decades, Toyota sponsored an annual automotive carnage-fest known as the Pro/Celebrity Race. It gathered a bunch of drivers, some who were actual professional racers and some who were movie and television… well, stars, might be too strong a … Continue reading
ART CORNER: These pixel art JNCs are the bee’s knees
There’s probably a pretty big overlap in the Venn diagram of people who are really into Japanese classic cars and people who are really into old video games before the graphics got too realistic. That’s why these pixel art cars … Continue reading
WRC champion Nicky Grist bought his dream car, an ST185 Celica GT-Four
Nicky Grist has co-driven in over 130 WRC races, won 21 of them, and even racked up a season championship. He’s navigated for legends like Colin McRae, Juha Kankkunen, and Armin Schwarz. He’s shouted instructions for legendary teams like Ford, … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Touring car classes mix it up at the 1973 Japan Grand Prix
While open-wheeled cars were the main event at the 1973 Japan Grand Prix, the supporting Touring Car races were where the action was. Take the TS-a class, for example. Here were racers based on cars that anyone could afford. Nissan … Continue reading
ART CORNER: Here’s your classic Toyota papercraft
If you’ve ever visited the Toyota Automobile Museum, you may be familiar with the exclusive papercraft they give away at the info desk. It changes every so often, so you’ll never get the same one twice. Well, the museum has … Continue reading