The Toyota Celica was one of Toyota’s coolest-looking cars. Even for its era, it had a forward-thinking design that wouldn’t look out of place today with only a couple of minor tweaks. Toyota sold the car for 36 years between 1970 and 2006 and the car was discontinued right at the end of the 1ZZ-FE’s run as an engine. Despite its sporty demeanor and reputation, it shared the same powerplant as the more economy-focused Corolla. The Celica did get a more powerful 145 horsepower variant of the 1ZZ-FE while the Corolla’s version only had about 125 horsepower.
Toyota’s history with the Celica is interesting. The car sold more than 50,000 units per year up through 1991 with some model years in the 1980s seeing over 100,000 sales per year. Then, for some reason, Celica sales tanked in the mid and late 1990s before a short revival in the early 2000s. By 2005’s discontinuation announcement, the Celica was selling less than 5,000 units per year. According to some, younger people were moving away from sports cars in general. The Celica was collateral damage.
Despite its lack of popularity in its later years, the Celica actually reviewed quite well. Reviewers praised its interior and exterior styling, the reliable performance of the 1.8-liter 1ZZ-FE, and Toyota’s knack for build quality. There wasn’t really much wrong with the Celica. People were just starting to get into larger vehicles the Honda CR-V, which sold like hotcakes in the early ’00s.
