If we had been alive in 1974 like many others still mourning the death of the muscle car would have likely scoffed at the idea that the tiny imported cars replacing the beautiful gas guzzlers we loved would ever be collectible.
With that in mind almost 40 years later, first generation Celicas are becoming more and more collectible with each passing year. Their mini-muscle car styling combined with their relatively low survival rate make owning one of these vintage Toyotas an attractive proposition—if you can find one.
Chances are if you do manage to track one down it won't be as nice as this well preserved 1974 Celica currently on Ebay. Amazingly this car has traveled a mere 22,000 miles since 1974 and is in the kind of immaculate condition you might expect of a car used so sparingly. According to dealership selling it, this car was purchased from the original owner, who is likely to thank for the immaculate original condition.
Upon further inspection of this super clean and original car we did manage to find something we don't like about this car—the automatic transmission. Although we generally hold a three pedals or none point of view regardless of the car, in these early 4 cylinder Celicas a stick truly makes a huge difference in the fun to drive factor.
This leaves the new owner with a bit of a dilemma—do you start chopping up a low mileage original car for a 5 speed swap or make do with the automatic. The reserve is met with the bidding currently at $12,400 so it looks like when the auction ends Monday afternoon someone else will be the one that decides what the future holds for this extremely original Celica.
[Ebay via BringATrailer]