Toyota Celica All-Trac: It Exists
Posted by Doug DeMuro in It Exists on | 9 comments
I was recently stunned to discover that some people don’t think Toyota is very cool.
Just kidding. We all know Toyota isn’t very cool, which is probably the reason they sell a lot of cars. Most people don’t want to be cool, especially because “cool” is really a car business term for “will spend more time in the shop than on the road.” My Range Rover, for instance, is very cool.
But Toyota has its flashes of actual, legitimate cool. And one of those flashes is the Celica All-Trac.
Most people don’t know this car was sold in the States, but it very much was. I believe they offered two models: in ’88 and ’89, you could get the fourth-generation Celica All-Trac, and from 1990 to 1993, you could get the fifth-gen. I’ve never been a fan of the fourth-gen body, but the running gear on both cars was largely the same. And it was awesome.
Under the hood was a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder that made 190 horsepower. That may not seem like a lot, but it perfectly rivaled the much more highly publicized “DSM” cars of the time: the Eagle Talon TSi, the Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, and the Plymouth Laser RS Turbo, which was briefly offered with the same turbo/AWD drivetrain as its companions and should probably be included in a later “It exists” segment.
Plus, 190 horsepower was more than enough power to move the Celica, since it only weighed around 2,500 pounds. Best of all, it included standard all-wheel drive, just like all “All-Trac” Toyota models in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The only difference was that the Celica was the only All-Trac designed for performance, unless you count that supercharged Previa.
With the arrival of the 1995 Celica – arguably the most handsome model – the turbo version went away in the States. Toyota had the Supra, which meant there was no need for a high-performance Celica. And when performance returned to the Celica line with the front-drive, naturally-aspirated GT-S trim in 2000, things weren’t quite the same.
I saw a Celica All-Trac on our roadtrip, and I was very excited by it. They were awesome cars. So awesome that someday, we might be sitting around talking about how we could’ve had a Celica All-Trac for ten grand if only we had bought it in 2013.
9 Responses to “ “Toyota Celica All-Trac: It Exists”
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A friend of mine has a GT4 Carlos Sainz (the denomination of the GT4 RC for Europe) with 204 hp and, despite of being a really good car when it was launched, it was too expensive (around $40.000 in 1991) and never had the charm of its rivals Ford Sierra/Escort Cosworth or Lancia Delta Integrale.
So, it wasn’t only in USA where it never had the success that maybe it deserved.
Ouch! $40k. Based on the Wikipedia article, it seems like it was only really strongly successful in Japan.
The 88-89 model will be one of the must haves for my future “Cars I lusted after before I had any money” car collection.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/name-that-shifter-no-50/
http://www.alltrac.net/FAQ.html
What a coincidence! On Toyota’s Facebook page, for Throwback Thursday, they featured this car.
Indeed a coincidence – I swear!!
I love this car. Most of the rally homologation cars of that era are awesome vehicles. If the 6th gen Celica turbo was ever sold in the states, I would strive to own one. Maybe in Canada? I once saw a Canadian first gen Subaru Legacy Turbo on the road in MI and I thought it was so cool that I had to follow the guy so that I could ask him questions about it. Luckily, he understood and obliged. Could have been awkward otherwise.
Haha. I always am glad when people with weird cars are happy to talk about them. At this point, yes, a sixth-gen GT-Four would be legal in Canada. Their rule is 15 years and those went from 1995 to 1998.
I worked with a guy who had one of these, an 89 I believe. I looked at buying one in 1991 but opted instead for the poor mans version – the 1991 Isuzu Impulse RS (I miss that car). Had that for 5 years and would have kept it longer if not for the wife and soon to be daughter. Took many a road trip in that car (not 6300 miles though) and had a blast every time I got in that car.
First, I’m a little late to post here (impending old age…), but I must say that I thoroughly enjoy your writing. Secondly, i might be wrong but methinks that the celica’s all trac system was eventually employed in that modified corolla known as the rav4.