1971 Toyota Celica: Revisiting The Japanese Pony Car That Helped Put Toyota On The Map In America (And Beyond)

 

Depending on your age, it may be hard to get your head around the idea that the once-ubiquitous first-generation Toyota Celica is now over 50 years old. As Paul found recently, there are still a few first-gen Celicas out there, but if you see one on the street, there’s a good chance it’ll be somewhat rough around the edges, in need of a bath and some cosmetic TLC. Let’s take a look at some well-scrubbed, mostly original examples of the initial 1971 Toyota Celica, which will make it clearer why these cars were so popular when they were new — and how the U.S. Celica differed from the cars sold in Japan and elsewhere.

 

For many Americans of the early ’70s, the initial appeal of the Celica lay in one number: $2,598, which was the U.S. base price of a new 1971 four-speed Celica ST, including federal excise tax, but not destination or the $50 dealer prep fee. In 2025 dollars, $2,598 is about $20,573, and MeasuringWorth estimates its “relative worth” at about $22,460.

 

This wasn’t the cheapest imported coupe you could get at the time (the Opel Manta Rallye 1900 was $78 cheaper), but it was a pretty good deal, and the base price of the Celica included most everyone an American buyer might want except automatic transmission, air conditioning, and perhaps a fancier sound system than the standard AM pushbutton radio. (There were also some dubious dealer-installed and aftermarket accessories, like the bumper overriders the red ST sported prior to 2020.)

 

In a U.S. context, the Celica was aimed at the commuter-coupe market first identified but later mostly vacated by the Ford Mustang. The cheapest six-cylinder Mustang hardtop in 1971 started at $2,911, was very nearly 2 feet longer than the Celica, and was a rather bare-bones affair unless you were prepared to spend hundreds of dollars more on options.

 

Whatever the merits of the 1971–1973 Mustang as an enthusiast’s car, it now left something to be desired as an inexpensive go-to-work car, although Lincoln-Mercury dealers would sell you the smaller, cheaper European Ford Capri, which was more directly competitive with the Celica in size and price, if not necessarily in features. However, as with the Mustang, the Capri required delving into the options list for desirable trim and features (albeit not as much here as in Europe), while the Celica simplified matters by only offering a single rather posh trim level.

 

 

Because this fully equipped/one-price strategy was so central to the appeal of the U.S.-market Celica (and to some extent many U.S.-market Japanese cars of this period), there’s a tendency to presume they were all like that, which wasn’t the case. The first-generation Celica (known as A20/A30, its chassis code) was also a big hit in Japan, where its marketing strategy was very different.

In Japan, Toyota took the merchandising approach of the early Mustang to dizzying extremes. Like the Capri, there was only one body style (the Celica Liftback wasn’t introduced in Japan until later), but there were four models (ET, LT, ST, and GT) and four interior trim treatments (Basic, Deluxe, Custom, and GT), several of those available with or without the Sport pack, which in turn was available with or without woodgrain trim. Mixing and matching these choices yielded different combinations of features.

A Celica ET with Basic trim didn’t come with a heater or a cigarette lighter, much less a radio, although it was quite cheap. The top-of-the-line GT, which cost about 50 percent more, came with most of the features available on the lesser models, but there were still more options you could add, from an 8-track player to body-color elastomer bumper covers, like those offered on the contemporary Chrysler E-body Challenger and Barracuda.

 

In Japan — where the Celica was sold through Corolla Stores along with the Corolla and Publica — a buyer could go into a dealership, choose from the more than two dozen permissible combinations of exterior and interior trim, pick a powertrain combination, select their desired color and optional extras, and then take advantage of Toyota’s new Daily Order System to have their new special-order Celica delivered in as little as eight to ten days.

 

Although the Celica was widely exported, Toyota didn’t have the infrastructure to offer anything even approximating this “Full Choice System” outside Japan. Thus, the U.S. initially got the only second-highest grade (ST) with the equivalent of the Custom SW interior trim, plus a couple of features optional on the Japanese Celica ST, like the heated rear window. Other markets sometimes got several grades, though not all of the ones available in the home market. For instance, Canada got only the ST at first, but also added the cheaper LT from 1973. Even in Japan, the basic Celica ET seems to have been quite rare — I couldn’t even find photos of any outside old brochures — and I suspect cars like this yellow RHD Celica 1600LT were probably far more common.

 

Because the yellow LT is an Australian car, it differs in some minor respects from an equivalent JDM model. Its interior trim approximates the Japanese Custom SW level, with woodgrain trim and a woodgrain steering wheel:

 

However, it lacks the ammeter and oil pressure gauge that normally came with the SW pack, although it has the console-mounted clock, which was optional on the JDM Celica LT.

 

This Celica is still quite plush for an inexpensive four-cylinder coupe — the importer, Australian Motor Industries Ltd. (AMI) in Port Melbourne, didn’t want its cars to seem too drab and basic, despite Australian prices starting around A$3,200.

 

Nonetheless, the LT is a bit less glitzy than the fancier models. Notice in particular the absence of the chrome hood vents found on the ST.

 

In Japan, the ET, LT, and ST could each be ordered with the cheaper 1,407 cc T engine, which had only 86 PS (JIS gross). The yellow car has the more commonly seen 1,588 cc 2T engine, the same hemi-head engine offered in the U.S. Corolla 1600, with 102 hp (SAE gross). With less-stringent emissions controls, it still gave okay performance for this class: Motor Manual clocked a Celica 1600 from 0 to 62 mph in 13.2 seconds and through the standing quarter mile in 18.6 seconds. In Japan and some European markets, there was also a dual-carburetor version, the 2T-B, with 113 hp (SAE gross), which was pretty spry, particularly when paired with a five-speed gearbox: 0 to 60 mph in 11.1 to 11.5 seconds, maybe 106 mph on top.

 

For emissions reasons, Toyota didn’t offer the U.S. or Canadian Celica with the 1.6-liter engines (although Toyota did install the 2T-C in the short-lived U.S. version of the Toyota Carina, the sedan whose platform the Celica shared). Instead, we got the bigger 1,858 cc OHC 8R-C engine from the Corona, which rated 108 hp (SAE gross) and wasn’t any faster than the pushrod 1600 engines offered elsewhere. The early U.S.-market Celica ST tested by Motor Trend needed 12.7 seconds to reach 60 mph and 19 seconds for the quarter mile, reaching 104 mph; Road & Track managed the quarter mile in 18.6 seconds, but needed 13.4 seconds to reach 60 mph.

 

In the “We were robbed” department is the original JDM Celica GT. The U.S. got a Celica GT in 1974, but it had the same engine as the 1974 ST, adding a five-speed gearbox and stiffer suspension, but no more power. This wasn’t the case in Japan.

 

The JDM TA22 Celica GT (later called 1600GT) included not only included a fairly lavish array of standard equipment and a five-speed gearbox, but also the hot DOHC 2T-G engine:

 

The 2T-G shared the basic block of the 2T-C engine found in the U.S. Corolla, but it had a new DOHC cylinder head, designed for Toyota by Yamaha. Fed by two Mikuni Solex carburetors, it produced 124 SAE gross horsepower (or 115 PS on the more conservative JIS gross scale), later also listed with a DIN net rating of 108 PS. Toyota eventually built 294,438 of these twin-cam engines, which were offered in the JDM Corolla/Sprinter and Carina lines as well as in the Celica. They were rugged performers, capable of 180 hp or more in racing tune.

 

The red Celica GT pictured here has Victoria registration plates, but it’s a JDM Celica, originally ordered by AMI managing director Ken Hougham to evaluate whether the GT was worth adding to the Australian Toyota lineup. He eventually decided the twin-cam model would cost too much and would be too expensive for most owners to insure, and because the car didn’t comply with Australian road standards, it ended up in storage for years. The current owner later restored it to showroom spec.

 

With the GT stripes, hood gewgaws, fender-mounted sport mirrors, and aesthetically dubious “magnesium-tone” wheel covers, the GT is not subtle on the outside:

 

However, the GT interior, with black trim, red stitching, leather-wrapped wheel, and no woodgrain, is soberer than the SW pack found on the U.S. Celica.

 

The JDM Celica GT had standard power windows and an AM/FM radio, to which this car added stereo multiplex and an 8-track player.

 

When the Celica GT was belatedly offered in European markets a few years later, there was some kvetching about whether the 2T-G engine lived up to Toyota’s claimed output. However, the DOHC Celica GT was fast for a 1.6-liter car provided you didn’t shy away from engine speeds of over 5,000 rpm. Autocar managed 0 to 60 mph in just 9.3 seconds, CAR in 9.5; top speed was at least 115 mph.

 

In the home market, Toyota was able to maintain most of that performance through the adoption of more stringent U.S.-style emissions standards in Japan (eventually adopting electronic fuel injection and three-way catalytic converters with feedback control), although the added weight of U.S. door beams and 5-mph bumpers would have dampened its enthusiasm somewhat.

 

The 1.6-liter GT still didn’t handle very well in stock form — like all early Celica models, it had too much weight on the nose and unhappy front suspension geometry that made for crushing understeer. However, this didn’t stop the Celica from racking up an impressive record in touring car and rally competition, beginning in the fall of 1971. Still, it wasn’t until the 1976 models that better weight distribution and front suspension changes made the civilian Celica handle more like a sporty coupe than a compact sedan, and even then, it remained a bit stodgy by class standards.

 

For early Celica fans, the real holy grail of the first generation was the JDM-only Celica GTV, introduced in August 1972 to coincide with the first of several minor changes the first-generation Celica would receive during its seven-year run. The GTV had the same powertrain as the GT, but added a stiffer lowered suspension, variable-ratio steering, and bigger tires.

 

It also dropped some extraneous GT luxury features (like the power windows), but added an oil temperature gauge on the console.

 

Japanese buyers initially didn’t get the bigger “R-system” engines found in the U.S. and Canadian Celica, but from April 1973, JDM hardtop buyers could get the 1,968 cc 18R engine, similar to the 18R-C engine in the latest U.S. Celica models. The swoopy Liftback joined the JDM lineup at the same time. It was often fitted with the 1.6-liter T engines, but it was also available with the new DOHC 18R-G engine, which produced up to 145 PS (JIS gross) and was allegedly capable of more than 125 mph.

 

American Celica buyers missed out entirely on the twin-cam engines; we had to wait until 1973 for automatic transmission, 1974 for a five-speed, and 1976 for the Liftback; and it wasn’t until the introduction of the 2,189 cc 20R crossflow engine in 1975 that U.S. Celica performance rated better than “adequate.” The 5-mph bumpers also didn’t do the styling any favors — the Celica looked much better with the original U-shaped bumpers.

 

On the other hand, in most of its many forms, the first-generation Celica was good value with lots of showroom appeal. In 1971–1972, equipping a domestic pony car like a U.S. Celica ST would cost you around $1,000 more, and most were thirstier and much more cumbersome for urban driving. Although automatic wasn’t available on the U.S. Celica until 1973, the slick Toyota four-speed was painless enough for most people, as was the later five-speed. Ride quality was good, fuel economy was excellent, and assembly quality well above average, though rust protection was sadly not.

 

Inflation and the demise of the fixed exchange rate system would eventually push Celica prices upward (over $3,000 for 1974, over $4,000 for 1975, to more than $5,000 for an air conditioned 1976 Liftback), but at least in the ’70s, the Japanese yen was in a much more favorable position for U.S. exports than the British pound or the Deutschmark, which allowed the Celica to thrive while British and German rivals floundered. As its reputation grew, Celica resale values did as well.

 

There were other cars in this class that were more satisfying to drive than the Celica, but Toyota had found a winning formula, as the numbers show.

Toyota Celica, Production and JDM and U.S. Sales, 1970–1977

Toyota calendar year production and sales figures don’t differentiate between generations, so the 1977 totals include both late A30 Celica models and the second-generation A40 car, which debuted in Japan in August 1977 and arrived here as a 1978 model.

 

Here’s the data in tabular form:

Calendar Year	Total Celica Production	JDM Celica Sales	U.S. Celica Sales
1970	5,602	3,024	—
1971	111,204	63,656	17,572
1972	150,162	61,134	40,485
1973	177,174	86,211	58,869
1974	149,751	47,687	59,172
1975	139,193	54,030	64,922
1976	223,631	53,569	100,438
1977	254,234	45,645	163,714

The Celica accounted for a relatively small chunk of U.S. Toyota sales at first, although its popularity grew throughout the decade.

Calendar Year	Celica Sales	All U.S. Toyota Car Sales	Celica Percentage
1971	17,572	401,265	4.4%
1972	40,485	392,829	10.3%
1973	58,869	390,206	15.1%
1974	59,172	329,694	17.9%
1975	64,922	420,230	15.4%
1976	100,438	518,782	19.4%
1977	163,714	735,187	22.3%

However, the Celica was a very important model for Toyota in the U.S. It was really the first Toyota car sold here that people bought because it was desirable rather than just because it was cheap or economical. It was still economical, and relatively cheap, but the Celica showed American buyers that a Toyota could be something more than just that.

 

Seen today, the early A20 Celica is a decent if not terribly original hardtop shape cluttered up with too much bric-a-brac. (I’ve spared you the photos of the red U.S. ST with the ghastly wire wheels a previous owner burdened it with in the ’80s.) The yellow LT is a bit more tasteful, although the green GTV suggests the merits of just leaning into the period addenda, silly or not — I have to say I find it awfully appealing.

 

I’ve never owned one of these cars, but I’ve spent a lot of time in first- and second-generation Celicas over the years. They have their limitations, as do all cars of this era, but if you had to choose a car of this vintage as a daily driver, you could do a lot worse — which is exactly what enabled Toyota to sell more than a million of them back in the 1970s.

Related Reading

Vintage R&T Review: 1971 Toyota Celica – The Arrival Of Toyota’s Pony Car (by Rich Baron)
Vintage Reviews: The 1971 Toyota Corona, Corolla And Celica – Toyota Moves The Target (by GN)
Vintage R&T Comparison: 1971 Capri 2000, Toyota Celica ST, and Opel Rallye 1900 – Sport Coupes For The ’70s (by Rich Baron)
Curbside Classic: 1974 Toyota Celica Coupe – Betting on The Wrong Pony (by Paul N)
Vintage R&T Review: 1975 Toyota Celica GT – Faster and Better Handling (by Paul N)
In-Motion Classic: 1976 Toyota Celica GT Notchback – Hang In There, Baby (by Joseph Dennis)
Vintage R&T Review: 1976 Toyota Celica Liftback – “A Much Improved Car” (by Paul N)
Curbside Find: 1976 Toyota Celica – Still Attracting Young Women First Time Owners (by Paul N)