Welcome to Member Rides, the weekly feature where we throw the keys to an Autopian Member so they can show off their favorite “ride.” This week, we’re super-stoked to have our new friend Holly Birge gracing the site with her extremely nice 1985 Celica GT, complete with a 5-speed manual. What a wonderful, quintessentially ’80s machine! Here’s Holly:
Greetings fellow Autopians and welcome to my “garage.” I put “garage” in quotes because I live in a condo, so it’s more like “extra parking space I rent from my neighbor.” I am a certified car nut and have been since pre-school. My Dad and I would spend Sunday afternoons wandering around the car lots back in the days when car lots were closed on Sundays.
Japanese cars were everywhere when I was growing up Florida in the ’70s and ’80s, which is why I think I love them so. I remember my parents’ unreliable GM cars and being so jealous of my neighbors who had Toyotas and Datsuns and Hondas that never broke down, and my high school parking lot was full of Celicas.
I now live in Victoria BC on Vancouver Island, home to a climate that preserves old cars and also has some fantastic, twisty two-lane driving roads. When I started looking for my first collector car, I had my sights set on a ‘76 or ‘77 Celica liftback. I think those cars were really ahead of their time, and I even requested one as the subject of my birthday drawing, as included with my Autopian membership—thanks Torch! [Glad you liked it, Holly, it was fun to draw! -JT]
But I soon discovered that a good, low-to-no rust example of a first-gen Celica was just out of my budget. And then, in my endless obsession with YouTube car channels, I came across the beauty that I own today on the Motormouth Canada channel (thank you Zack!): a 1985 Celica GT 5-speed, the last of the rear-wheel-drive Celicas. [That’s Holly’s car in the video below! -PV] The video stated that the car was going on Bring A Trailer, but when I talked to the dealer who had the car it became clear that it was going to be more work than he wanted to put into it to get it suitable for BaT. He named a price, I said yes, and the rest is history.
The car was in good shape overall with only 69,000 kilometers (42,874 miles) on it when I bought it. A lot of things were original but just kind of worn out, and it had been given a bad paint job. But I knew it was all easily fixable, and the most important thing is that the engine cranked over every time, and it drove and shifted like it just wanted to be driven. The best part is its originality. Everything from the stereo to the floor mats is exactly what it rolled off the assembly line with—heck, even the power antenna is original and still works! Also, not gonna lie, that interior is as amazing in person as it is in photos. I love it so much. (Side note for anyone who has a RA 6x Celica with loose door mirror glass: it can be fixed. YouTube is your friend.)
Through a Twitter acquaintance, I learned the story of my car. I had posted a photo right after I purchased it, and I got a message from a friend in Vancouver. She knew that car! It had belonged to a friend of hers who lived in West Vancouver. He babied it, always kept it garaged and rarely drove it in the rain. Sadly, he was hospitalized at one point and the car went into storage. It was only after he passed away in 2020 that his estate sold the car. I hope he would be pleased that it belongs to someone who loves it as much as he did.
Nearly two years later, my Celica GT has had her paint redone back to the correct factory color, and the mechanicals are refreshed with new brake lines, control arm bushings, muffler, and a few other little things. I’ve been battling a drive shaft issue that causes her to vibrate on deceleration, but the problem has been diagnosed and she’s going to a driveline shop to finally address it and improve the drivability at highway speed. She’s been in a couple of car shows and gotten a ton of attention—lots of “I haven’t seen one of these in 20 years” comments.
Someone who knows I daily-drive a Mk 7.5 GTI asked me which car I liked better. The GTI wins for daily use overall, but I will say that the handling in my Celica is far superior and wow is the driver’s seat comfortable. A perfect day for me is taking her out on a quiet back road and just cruising.
Thank you all for letting me share my story with my Celica. I’m not a wrencher, so I am also grateful that Victoria BC has such a close knit and vibrant collector car community—I don’t know what I would do without my mechanic. I hope to see some of you at a local car show in the future. Keep an eye out for the middle-aged lady who loves to geek out about her 1985 Celica.
P.S. If any of y’all know where I can find a working OEM stereo with the cassette deck, hit me up—I want to add one of those Bluetooth cassette adapters.
P.P.S. Save the Manuals!
Thanks so much for sharing your Celica with us, Holly!
Remember, readers, the opportunity to be selected for Member Rides is included at every Autopian membership level. Why not join today? The standard “Vinyl” membership is just ten bucks a month—you probably blow four times that each month on coffees or sausage biscuits or Hot Wheels. Come on, you know we’re right. Become a Member!
Already a Member and would like to be considered for Member Rides? Just check your email for the link to the Member survey where you can tell us about your car—or your fleet!
A friend had a GTS 5spd. that I raced with my work commute car, a 1981 Escort L 1.6HO 5spd. From a standing start it was comical, from a 50mph roll the Escort just walked away. Slowest car the ever wear a GT badge.
What a find! Such a beautiful time capsule of the ’80s.
What a cool car, Holly! I’ve only been out to BC once but the landscape is gorgeous and I imagine that the backroads must be really enjoyable to drive in that Celica.
That’s a beautiful car! My brother had a similar vintage Celica Supra, but I think the Celica looks cleaner and better without the fender flares.
Just fantastic! I will always love my ’87 Camry Wagon (long lost first car), so any 80’s Toyota is a win, but wow. This is something else. I’m probably MORE delighted when I see a minty ’91 Sentra or a Celica like this than something exotic – a nice time capsule of what was actually on the roads then.
Agree 100%. I love seeing minty examples of what were everyday cars back in the day. I saw a mint condition Tercel recently that gave me a huge grin.
Swoon. My second car in 1990 was a 1983 Celica GT notchback, and it’s still one of my very favorite cars I’ve ever owned. My only complaint was that it wasn’t a hatchback, which makes this one really hit me where I live. You’re right, they handle like a go-kart. I dreamed of what mine would be like with another 50 horses – it was already pretty easy to get it ass-happy on wet pavement.
By the way, mine originally came with what I’m sure is the very same factory tape deck you’re looking for, and every one I ever saw, mine included had the same quirky defect: one of the drive gears for the cassette would break a tooth, and it would play two or three seconds of tape, auto-reverse and play two or three seconds from the other side, reverse again, repeat. I found the broken tooth in my tape deck when I replaced it with a JVC. Neither I nor my friend helping me had any idea where to get a drive gear for a cassette deck, so we just scrapped it. That might be why you’re having such a hard time finding one now – they could all be under thirty years’ worth of landfill.
That Celica is hella sweet! Great car and great attitude, Holly. Also, the RWL tires are perfect. And even period correct!
Holly, what a great car and a great story!
Absolutely beautiful, Holly! Great find. Please please please don’t drive this anywhere near salt. These old Japanese cars are disintegrating around us, we need to preserve them (but still drive the %$&# out of them).
Save the manuals!
I hear ya about the rust. Even here on the West Coast I had to have a small bit of rust repaired when it was repainted. I’m so glad I have access to a climate controlled garage for this beauty.
Lucky Ducky! What a find.
Great car Holly! And I’ve always loved those wheels…they’re some of Toyota’s best, and definitely have a pony car meets ’80s Japanese invasion vibe. So cool.
And where did you find those awesome white letter tires? I didn’t realize they made those for non-SUV applications anymore.
They are BFG Radial T/As. Only tires left that are the right size for those wheels.
100%. The wheels really make this car.
Love your car! And a white car with red interior is what the better people drive.
I agree. I’ve heard that was a one year only interior and only on the GT. I know it came in blue and black also.
Very nice, quite a time piece, it is unusual to see those wheels without the fender flares.
They weren’t stock for the GT but the age of the lug nuts indicates they may have been a dealer installed accessory
That interior is a great mix of red and black like a more modern car, and not all red like many of that time period were.
Always cool to see what everyone is driving and taking care of!
You say that like being enveloped in sumptuous whorehouse red isn’t a wonderful thing.
I always had a soft spot for this generation of celicas and celica supras, they just kinda looked the part from my perspective. More so than the ones before or after.
Very cool car, and the seat upholstery puts it over the top.
Go Holly! What a find. I’m so glad to hear you’re giving that car the attention it deserves, and taking it out to cruise and enjoy. So much better than being shut away in storage forever.
For me the point of having an old car is to drive it and have fun.
Thank you Peter, and thank you fellow Autopians for the kind words. As I guess you can tell, I really, really love this car.
Rightly so!
Beautiful car and great story – thanks for sharing.
BEAUTIFUL Celica! Amazing save!
Congrats! Very cool find, enjoy.
I had a white Mk2 P-Type Supra (in MUCH rougher condition, it was $200). 84 or 85 I think. This makes me miss it!
Oh man, I had an ’82 and absolutely loved that car. I still remember the day my father dropped two letters in front of me, one from the state saying that if I got another speeding ticket, I’d lose my license and the other from our insurance company saying if I got another ticket, they’d drop me. Dad bought me a radar detector.
Sharp car in a great spec. Holly, you’ve done nice work in preserving/restoring this car, one worth saving.
Wow that Celica is absolutely awesome. I had a cousin with an ’85 Celica, and let me tell you it certainly didn’t look this good back in… 1999.
Awesome Celica Holly! Also, Torch needs to share all these member drawings that he does at some point. I’d love to see more of them. It is my favorite part of the membership, but probably so much work for Torch to keep up on. I didn’t even think to include it in my Member Rides photo.
Agreed… I would love to see a gallery of the birthday drawings. Maybe a monthly roundup of drawings for the previous month?
Oh man, we have so many good ones.