For the 1979 model year, Toyota stretched its Celica by a little more than five inches, enough to give the compact car an even sportier style and to fit an inline 6-cylinder engine under its hood. The result was the introduction of the Celica Supra.
The Pick of the Day is one of those first-year examples, a 1979 Toyota Celica Supra offered for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Stone Park, Illinois.
“You do not see too many of these still on the road; particularly not in this condition,” the seller notes in the advertisement.
The seller said that the car shows 67,121 miles on its odometer, at some point was repainted in a metallic silver color with a black roof, and the car retains its original burgundy maroon vinyl interior.
The 110-horsepower 2.6-liter engine is linked to a 5-speed manual transmission and reportedly “the car she is in good shape and mechanically it runs and drives nicely.”
Toyota launched the Celica as a sporty if compact coupe for the 1971 model year. A second-generation version arrived seven years later, and now as a 2-door notchback or a 3-door liftback, but still with a 4-cylinder engine.
For 1979, the wheelbase grew and the Celica Supra got an inline 6. In 1982, that engine also grew, from a carbureted 2.6 liters to a fuel-injected 2.8 with 145 horsepower and with independent rear suspension. In 1986, the Supra would become a stand-alone model with an even larger engine but, notes the Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, with added pounds that “did not help” the car’s dynamic performance.
The Pick of the Day is a first-gen Celica Supra and is offered for $14,950.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
