1985 Toyota Celica GTS convertible, 5 speed, 67,800 mi, all original, no reserve

1985 Toyota Celica GTS

If you’re in the market for an ’85 Celica GTS Convertible this is likely the best one you’ll run across. With 67,800 miles it is very low mileage (2,200 mi/yr), ut the miles alone don’t do it justice. Everything, ithin reason, s original. Exceptions are things like the tires which have only a few thousand miles on them and the radiator which was replaced about 5 or 6 years ago. But, mpressively, he paint is original, he top is original, he upholstery is original… the list goes on. This is essentially a one-owner car and it’s been treated its whole life like it was going to be kept forever. For you folks worried about the “essentially” qualifier for the “one-owner”, et me explain. I purchased this car in March of 1985 from Seeger Toyota in St. Louis. The furthest it’s been from that dealership in its life is one trip to Rolla Missouri (100 miles away). Other than that one trip I doubt it’s been further than 20 miles from where it showed up in St. Louis in March 1985. But back to the one owner thing… at the time I bought it I had a 5 year old son. I told him at the time that I’d give him the car when he was 16. I lied. A relatively quick 11 years later, he still perfect Celica was much too nice a car to be giving to a 16 year old, ew driver. In fact, didn’t even let him drive it. I don’t recall when it was exactly, ut I’m certain my son was over 20 years old before I let him get behind the wheel. Anyway, finally broke down and gave him the car as a house warming gift when he bought a house in 2005 at the age of 26. I was only 10 years late on my promise. My son is every bit as much as car guy as me and he knew how I treated this car, nd how I took care of it. He’s continued to treat it the same way I did. So, trictly speaking it’s a two-owner car, ut a one-family car, f you will.

Now, et me talk about the car itself. This car has been babied its whole life but let me give an example or two. I bought a car cover when I bought the car in 1985. Even when the car has sat in the garage it’s had a car cover on it. I can honestly say that this car has been covered more of its life than not. I believe we’re on the third car cover. Believe it or not, ar covers wear out even when not covering a car outside. I guess the “stress” of being rolled up and back out hundreds of times wears them out and they eventually get tears. The current car cover is relatively new and in great shape. And regarding oil changes… don’t get the idea that oil changes have been at mileage intervals. That doesn’t work with a car driven this little. I’d guess that it’s averaged an oil change every 1,000 miles. They were less often than that at first, ut much more often than that in the last several years. A better way of looking at it is that oil changes have been done usually on 6 month intervals or so.

The list of what is good about this car is really too long to get into, o let me get to the list of things that are not perfect about this car:

1. As can be seen in one of the photos, he right rear taillight lens is cracked. This occurred as an unfortunate consequence of having someone “help” me push it into my garage once. I can’t even remember why we were pushing it in the garage but my “help” pushed on the taillight lens. Duh.

2. The driver side mirror detached somehow from the motorized gizmo (sorry for the technical language) inside the mirror housing. The motor still works, t’s just that the mirror isn’t attached, o it just sort of flops there. I’m not at all certain what it would take to fix. I’m guessing a clever, echanical type guy could fix it. I’m not that guy.

3. The back seats have a “spring” that flips the seats forward when you start to put the top up. These “springs” are really some sort of torsion rod arrangement. One of those torsion rods broke. I guess it just fatigued. I tried to have this fixed once by having it welded back into one piece (it’s in two pieces when broken). That fix lasted about a week and it broke again at the weld. It wasn’t worth trying again. It really poses no problem. One seat flips forward and from the driver’s seat you just have to reach back and flip the other forward. Very simple and easy. If the other one broke and someone was not familiar with the car, ou’d never suspect that the seats ever flipped forward on their own.

4. The driver window switch on the driver door had the switch cover pop off. Similar to the driver side mirror the switch still functions as designed, owever the black cover is off of it. I still have the cover if you can figure out how to reattach it.

That’s about it with the flaws. Now let me get into some of the neat stuff. This is a 5-speed manual. No funky old Toyota automatic. And it shifts, iterally, etter that when it was brand new. I think it takes 50,000 miles to break in a Toyota manual transmission. The clutch is very strong. Not even the slightest hint of slippage. The engine/transmission combo is a good as it can be. The engine bay is a bit dirty because it’s just about never had any work done (except for that radiator). I’ve literally never cleaned the engine (worried about getting water and/or whatever where it doesn’t belong). This car has been rock solid reliable. Even if you didn’t care about the collectability of the car, t would be a good deal to just drive for another couple hundred thousand miles or so. The paint is remarkable. Like everyone, was religious about waxing it several times a year at first. My “at first” was about the first 10 years. I think my son picked up the waxing again when he got it. Regardless, he paint is fantastic AND original. The top is also the original cloth top and it in just as good of shape as the paint. Virtually perfect. The rear window is glass with an electric defroster. Many of these cars have had the window replaced with a plastic one that, bviously, as no defroster and gets cloudy in no time. No issues like that with glass. This car also comes with the three piece top “boot” for when the top is down. The “boot” is also in spectacular shape… as shiny as the day I got the car. You really need to appreciate the fact that the “boot” comes with the car. I’d guess that 90% of the ’85 Celica Convertibles being sold don’t come with it. I have no idea what other Celica owners do with these things, ut I’ve seen them go for a small fortune when (and it’s only been once or twice) I’ve seen them listed on eBay. It’s insane. The radio is also original. That said, t’s not the greatest radio. The speakers all work, ut the radio is a bit iffy about when it lets them all work. The radio looks great in there, ll original and all, ut if you’re really driving the car on a daily basis, ou might consider replacing it. It would be a shame, ut just the same it’s nice to have a radio that doesn’t have speakers go in and out on its own. The wheels are all really perfect. And the tires are virtually brand new. They literally only have a couple or few thousand miles on them. The pictures show the actual original carpet which is also nearly perfect. They’ve always had floor mats on them. We removed the floor mats to take the pictures. It does come with floor mats. The floor mats are OK. They’re not new but they don’t look bad either.

One last thing… if you see anything that appears to be a “blotch” or “scratch” in the paint, t’s more than likely some dust and/or a hair on the camera lens. You’ll notice the same hair on the bottom right of every picture. Unfortunately my SLR is not as perfect as the car. If you have any concerns about anything with the car or want any close-ups of any part of the car I can snap some more pictures and post them or send them to you. If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask. By the way, his car is available for “local pickup” only in St. Louis, O. I’ve heard horror stories about people shipping cars and then the buyer decides they don’t want it, r don’t want it at the agreed price. I really want the buyer to come and see and drive the car (absolutely nothing to hide here). Seeing it in person and driving it only makes it look better.

On Aug-17-15 at 18:17:44 PDT, eller added the following information:

As an additional note, meant to include that the A/C works and blows nice and cold. Also, he cruise control works fine. Finally, he engine is a 2.4 liter, ot a 2.2 as erroneously listed. Thanks.

• Condition: Used
• Make: Toyota
• Model: Celica
• SubModel: GTS
• Type: Convertible
• Trim: GTS convertible
• Year: 1985
• Mileage: 67,799
• VIN: JT5RA65K0F4052162
• Color: Red
• Engine size: 2.2 Liter 4 cylinder, 22-RE
• Number of cylinders: 4
• Power options: Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows
• Fuel: Gasoline
• Transmission: Manual
• Drive type: RWD
• Interior color: Gray
• Options: Convertible
• Vehicle Title: Clear
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