Punk legend Jello Biafra, frontman for the Dead Kennedys, is auctioning off his 1989 Toyota Celica GT convertible. The foundational punk band was known for their satirical lyrics and skewering of the cultural and political establishments, and the Celica is somehow simultaneously not at all fitting and also wholly appropriate. We’ll come right out and say it — the car looks like crap — but Biafra swears by it and actually has some pretty good takes on it.
When you think of a punk band car you probably think of something countercultural or anti-establishment, like an old VW or a well-patina’d domestic van. What you don’t expect is a smooth-running Japanese sports coupe with a droptop to let in the sun. But in a video discussing the car Biafra says he loved top-down cruising.
“After 30-plus years I am finally letting go of my beloved now classic 1989 Toyota Celica GT Convertible,” he says. Biafra bought the car in 1995. “I got the car in the first place because I always wanted a ragtop. I really liked riding around with the top down and driving through the mountains around Yosemite or in Colorado.”
Its original 3S-FE 2.0-liter twin-cam “purrs like a Marshall stack turned up to 11.” It’s a manual, with a 5-speed that just had its clutch replaced. “It is it’s a really well-made car, real strong,” Biafra says of its 212,000-miles. “It’s been all over the Western United States several times, touring, driving out to see family, whatever. It did not break down once. Not once.”
In 1985 Dead Kennedys members had an internal dispute that led to the band’s breakup soon after. Levi’s jeans had reached out, wanting to use their music in an ad. The other members were receptive to the idea, but Biafra refused to sell out. And yet, when describing the Celica he can’t help but sing its praises. “It’s a really well-made car when it was still made in Japan and Toyota cared about making cars that lasted. They hadn’t figured out planned obsolescence yet.”
Of the driving experience, Biafra tells us what we already know and perhaps even channels a bit of the T160 chassis’ rallying background. “It corners really well. You can take it kind of off-road on gravel and dirt roads, no problem.”
He goes on to say that if you ever sent him a demo tape, chances are he listened to it on the cassette deck of this car. A true connoisseur, he understands the benefits of physical buttons. “[It’s an] old enough car you’re not going to be able to scream and fiddle with Bandcamp and drive distracted, crash into people.”
Biafra notes that he decided to sell the car when he saw values of older Celicas begin to climb, with some lower mileage hardtops selling for as high as $12,000. He said he wasn’t expecting that, but at the time of this writing bidding sits at $13,165 with three days left. Proceeds from the sale will help fund his Alternative Tentacles Records label and allow it to print more copies of its back catalog.
If you do choose to nab this piece of music history, Biafra says he may throw in a signed copy of the Dead Kennedys albums Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, or take you for a personal tour around San Francisco that will surely include the former location of legendary punk venue Mabuhay Gardens. Maybe the lucky winner could even take the car on a holiday in Cambodia.
Arigatou to Jeff K. for the tip!
