We’re now up to 1983 in my Cars of a Lifetime series. It’s time to talk about my first new car. By that I mean a car bought new from a dealer, not a vehicle that is merely new to me. By 1983 my partner Rick and I had owned Darren, the 1973 Pinto wagon, for six years. The Pinto had
given (mostly) reliable and useful service. I had driven it across the country four times, plus trailered it once from Seattle to Kingston, RI when we moved there in 1980. During that time, I had to have the throwout bearing on the clutch replaced once. And from time to time the distributor would act up, causing strange surges and stumbling as the timing went off. Aside from those two maladies, the car had given pretty reliable service.
However, starting in 1983 we began to have real trouble. The upholstery was getting tattered, with a ripped seat bottom on the driver’s side. I bought a new seat from a junkyard, but it was from the wrong year so the mounting bolts didn’t match (I was able to return it). The anti-backfire valve (part of the smog control) was leaking air and causing a rough idle, and that was fixed with duct tape. When it was rainy or wet, the car refused to start, which I traced to a pinhole leak in a coolant line which sprayed water on the ignition wires. But the last straw was when the throwout bearing went bad and the clutch went out when Rick was driving home from work in Providence. He managed to get home, but was not at all pleased. We got the clutch fixed, but decided it was time to think about a new car. The decision was made when we were driving to the annual auto show in Providence to look at new car options and the timing belt gave out. Apparently Darren Pinto knew he was going to be replaced, and acted out.
By this time, Rick had finished his nursing degree and had a job as a neonatal intensive care nurse at a hospital in Providence. With two incomes, we now could afford to splurge and buy a new car—a first for either of us. Reliability was paramount; Rick worked the 11 PM-7AM shift, and we didn’t want a car breaking down in the middle of the night or the early morning. He’s not anything near a car buff like I am, so he left the choice to me. We had a strict limit on what we could pay, which meant we were looking at low-end vehicles. Here were my choices:
My first thought was a Renault Alliance. It had gotten good reviews, it was economical, it came with a stick shift, and I was a longtime AMC/Nash/Hudson/Rambler fanboy. However, it was in its first year on the market, and my inner car guy whispered “never buy a new car the first year it’s on the market. Let the bugs work themselves out”. So I decided to pass on the Alliance, which was probably a wise move as things turned out.
Next we test-drove a Chevy Cavalier Cadet. When originally released for 1982, the Cavalier was considered overpriced and underengineered compared to its imported competitors. In ’83, they brought out the Cavalier Cadet, a de-contented stripper model at a lower price. I thought the car was slow and wheezy (with its dorky and gutless 1.8L pushrod four), and the interior was just a few steps up from Studebaker Scotsman level. In other words, a dreary car with a dreary drive and a dreary interior. Bleh. I thought if was gonna spend all that money for a car I’d knew we’d keep a long time, I’d want something better.
Which led us look at Toyota Celicas…or is the plural of Celicae? Who knows?
I’m holding our one-year-old Mini Schnauzer I named Packard Patrician. Am I a car guy or what!
As things turned out, the local Toyota dealer had an ST model in stock. This was the era of ‘voluntary export restraints’ on Japanese autos, negotiated by the Reagan administration. It was intended to help shield the Big Three domestics from competition with Japanese automakers. It’s economics 101 (something I knew about) that such restraints would cause prices of Japanese cars to rise and that Japan’s automakers would ship higher-content, higher-profit cars to us. So it was very unusual to see a stripper ST model in stock instead of the pricier GT or GT-S models. But the price was right, and although basically equipped—no A/C; low-end sound system, plain interior—it was much nicer inside than the strippo Cavalier or the Alliance. So we took every penny we had saved up, and bought it.
The Celica was perfect for us. It was zippy with the five-speed manual transmission. It was good on gas. And in the four years we owned it, we never had a bit of trouble with it. I particularly loved the slanting pop-up headlights; I thought they were uber cool. The taillights reminded me a bit of late-1960s Dodges. The interior was comfy, especially the bucket seats, although the back seat was a bit of a tight fit. The dash was pleasant, and even though the ST was a low-end model it had a high-quality feel to it. Or perhaps it was the influence of the new-car smell of my first new car. I sold the old 1973 Pinto wagon to my department chair for his daughter for $300; she promptly wrapped it around a tree.
In 1985, I came up for my mandatory tenure decision, otherwise known as “publish or perish”: if you publish enough scholarly work, you get awarded tenure—basically lifetime job security. If you get denied tenure, your academic career is essentially toast because you’re unhirable at any major university. I was confident, but got a rude shock when the department chair engineered a decision where I was denied tenure with ⅔ of the faculty abstaining rather than supporting me. Something was fishy, so I hired a lawyer and fought back. It turned out a minority of the faculty were afraid of getting AIDS from me! Word got out that my “roommate” worked with HIV-positive babies in his nursing job, so I was axed, despite the fact that nobody was at risk of AIDS here. Eventually I won tenure on appeal. But I left for a better job in DC, working for the Agriculture Department—I was not about to work in a department of such narrow-minded people.
So in the Spring of 1986, we moved to Washington, DC. We bought a house ½ mile from a Metro (subway) stop, which was convenient since Rick needed the Celica to get to his new job at the hospital.
One thing to understand about Washington, DC is that for about five months of the year it is very humid. I mean, fish-swim-through-the-air-above-the-pond humid. I mean, walk-to-your-car-and-you-need-another-shower humid. They call the weather triple-H: hazy; hot, and humid. As a northwesterner from Seattle, I didn’t cope very well—and our Celica had no air conditioning. I was miserable that first summer; we’d sit in traffic jams with the windows open and and the fan blowing muggy air around us. I’d sweat through whatever I was wearing in a few blocks. All of our friends got annoyed when I would ask them to drive whenever we would hang out—they all had A/C in their cars!.
So, even though Sally the Celica was a perfectly good car with nothing wrong, in 1987 before the summer humidity hit she was traded in for another Celica, this time a 1987 GT coupe—with air conditioning!
This pic could have been our car on our street. We lived in a community of row houses just like this.
Our new Celica was this color, a sort of deep reddish maroon. It was a coupe, not a hatchback, so the back seat was a bit cramped, but most of the time we just had the two of us in the car, so it was fine in that regard. This generation of Celica switched to front-wheel drive, so the interior was a bit more spacious than our old ST. To be honest, since I’m not a vroom-vroom kinda guy, I never really noticed the driving difference between front and rear wheel drive. A couple of times we had to take our schnauzer Packard Patrician to the emergency vet in the snow, and the GT seemed to have good traction in slippery conditions.
Our 87 Celica gave us great service in the seven years we had her. Of course, we didn’t put much mileage on our cars, since Rick’s job was only 3 miles from our home and we seldom took long road trips out of town. Between 1987 and 1994 we put under 8,000 miles a year on our cars. We were very happy with this car—it was one of the best we’ve owned.
Then in 1991, something sad happened and another car came into our lives. More on that in next week’s episode.
COAL № 1: Buicks Aplenty; a Fiat, and a Pontiac • The Early Years.
COAL № 2: 1958 Plymouth Custom Suburban • Dad’s Biggest regret
COAL № 3: 1965 Buick Sportwagon • My first car
COAL № 4: 1967 Datsun 1600 • The first car that was legally mine
COAL № 5: A Pair of Pintos
Further reading:
1982 Cavalier: GM’s Deadly Sin #22
Jim Grey’s COAL about his 1983 Renault Alliance
Jim Grey’s feature on Where Alliances Go to Die
Willam Stopford’s QOTD: What is your favorite generation of Celica?
Nice story but I’m wondering why you did not simply retro fit an after market a/c to your ST if you were still happy with the car?. The last of the line, the ones that look like an Eagle were fast and light in T190 trim except for a very un Toyota like qualify interior to keep it light.
I suppose I could have added an after-market AC unit to the 83 Celica, but by this point with the new jobs and big salary increases we decided to splurge on a new car.
Smart move. I retrofitted one car with aftermarket A/C and there were issues. Electrical and cooling system modifications made by the manufacturer for A/C equipped cars were there for a reason. Hard to believe virtually every car has A/C today. I sure understand why you wanted it in DC. I’ve been there in summer and never have I showered so many times in one day!
” And from time to time the distributor would act up, causing strange surges and stumbling as the timing went off…”
Sorry to get stuck on a minor detail in an interesting story, but this stayed in my mind because I spent many years stumbling around with old type ignition systems in old type cars. If the distributor internals are tightly in place and there are no hairline fractures anywhere, the only culprit I can come up with is the bolt that keeps the timing at the location where it was last set. Loose bolt; loose timing, but of course, I have been wrong many times before.
Your story about the comparisons and evaluations you made when looking for a new car were made by millions of other drivers over the past 45 years or so, and the results, then and now, are clear to anyone looking at a USA parking lot or on roadways from the East coast to the West coast.
Paul N. doesn’t call them “Deadly Sins” for nothing.
Another possibility, and one that afflicted my Pinto-powered Cortina, is the vacuum unit on the distributor. The mounting hole on mine wore where the vacuum unit bolts onto the distributor body, giving erratic performance – great one moment, really sick the next.
Steve –
You have an easy conversational air in your writing; very enjoyable. I was sad though to read of your tenure ordeal. It’s good to be reminded that narrow-mindedness can be found anywhere; even among academics who you’d hope would be more intelligent.
As for the Celica – great choice. I loved those cars in the early eighties; you are correct that the rear treatment looked a lot like late 60’s mopars, just done so much better.
Looking forward to the next installment.
LOL – never assume intelligence in academia!
+1 – I thought academics prided themselves on being open minded! At least that’s what they say….
They may be open-minded in their own field, but can be as narrow as anybody else outside that field. And often totally unaware of it themselves.
I reckon that tail design, with a trunklid that angles down from the sides to a dropped center section, may have been inspired by the Lancia Gamma coupe, a styling cue which itself was derived from its predecessor, the Lancia 2000 coupe (a facelift of the Flavia), as a segue from the prior Flavia coupe’s vestigial tailfins.
Thank you for this COAL. It is nice to see why you did not choose the Cavalier or the Renault. I am not a fan of that edgy Celica, somehow the lines does not work for me. That second Celica is much better.
I remember the fear of everyone regarding AIDS. Information was a lot harder to come by then, but even so the faculty should not have made a decision based on nothing.
I bought a very similar 1983 Celica coupe as my second new car – mine was a GT model, but also was stripped down (no AC).
One of the nice features of this vintage of Celica was the 2.4 liter fuel-injected 22RE engine. It wasn’t a high-revving rocket motor by any stretch, but it had a wide power band and was smooth and easy to live with, especially for highway cruising.
I passed-on my Celica to a family member when I received my first company car. It stayed in the family for close to 200K trouble-free miles.
Steve, thanks for another very enjoyable read. This chapter does a wonderful job of capturing the 80s vibe around what was available/worth considering when it came to new, small, not expensive, cars at the time. Not surprising that you wound up in the Celica as I think it (and the Japanese imports at the time did a great job at this) captured those buyers who were looking for something aspiring, but not too over the top aspirational/sporty (i.e., yuppie)…and most importantly, economical. Adding “reliable” into the mix really seems like it tipped the balance to a Toyota (even back then).
I would say though that my first thought at seeing the Alliance and Cavalier ads made me sure that the next one I would see as I scrolled down was for a Dodge/Plymouth K car. You know, a nice reliant automobile 😉 Maybe as an economist you weren’t willing to take the side of the bet that said that Chrysler would still be around as long as your new car’s warranty lasted?
Your comments about how a car that made sense in New England weather just wouldn’t work for DC-area driving make me realize why I hung onto the idea that I didn’t need air conditioning in my cars at the time. I ascribed to the notion of “why would you need air conditioning when you’d only use it a handful of days a year?”. Of course, that was for the New England of 20 years ago. Nowadays, it seems that we’re edging closer to DC weather for at least a month or two each summer.
And lastly, your tenure experience is a good reminder of how things in the very recent past are on one hand so alien to current sensibilities, and even so, the people who held those sensibilities are still around. So, things – important things – change…or do they? I’m sure that some of that “2/3” of the econ department faculty are still working and still in faculty positions today…and I wonder how they feel about their shoddy behavior now. They probably don’t think about it. Which if true would be a shame, since a little reflection on how much things have changed, and how much they haven’t, would do most people some good. IMO.
About a year after I left the University I as put in charge of a research program at my new job at USDA. We had some funding for cooperative research agreements with land-grant universities. My old department applied for some funding, and they sent one of my former colleagues to DC to meet with my agency about their grant request. Imagine the look on the former colleague’s face when he was ushered into my office to discuss his proposal. I was gracious, professional, and told him “your grant proposal will receive the came professional, dispassionate, and honest review that you gave my tenure decision.”
I then handed at the review off to a colleague – I didn’t want a conflict of interest here. In the end the university didn’t get the funding, but I had no role in that decision.
But the look on the former colleagues face was priceless.
A good case of “what goes around, comes around”!
Classic japanese car.
Almost indestructible.
The Voluntary Import Restrictions just made the cars even more desirable, all of a sudden there was some measure of status involved. Ohh, you got one, how lucky!
Never mind that it also led to a lot of manufacturers setting up their shops here, and quickly proving that the problems with the domestic cars weren’t due to the American workers. And also the rise of luxury automobiles such as Lexus to take a big bite out of Lincoln and Cadillac along with of course the Germans.
It’s surprising how a very low end Cavalier could all of a sudden find another, lower, step to perch on. Dangerously close to yet another step down but this time without a headliner or maybe only primer.
But back to the Celica, there were many of these around in SoCal, it was extremely popular and long-lived and a favorite of mine, though I never had one. Even the ST was around, although yes, GT and GT-S seemed to be more prevalent. Very nice cars with good for the day classic handling characteristics and a lovable grunty engine.
One minor nit – the newer Celica pictured is not an ’87, it’s a next generation ’90-’93. However, judging by the RAV4 behind it that picture isn’t too old, the Celica looks in fabulous condition!
In MANY years and vehicles, I have only had one completely NEW vehicle. For the most part, it made more sense to find a gently used upscale vehicle. But my one exception was the last 1977 Monte Carlo available at the local Chevrolet Cadillac dealer. It was a black beauty with the so called go for baroque 😉 styling. Such a feeling of pride
Kept it for five years and might have kept it longer but even though it had been rustproofed when new RUST took a toll. Had considered buying a new Monte in 1980,but so much LESS car for so much MORE money 💰. Ever since, have been fortunate enough to find great deals on previously owned upscale vehicles! 😃
It’s hard to imagine comparing the Alliance, Cavalier and Celica as the Celica would have been heads and tails above the others. I’m glad that you enjoyed the generally typical Toyota experience, as they were just tough to beat in the 80’s.
Steve…I’m floored. I’ve read so many amazing stories in this series, and I think the ones that get me the most are those with a “Hemmingway” simplicity. The way you describe such a discrimination crime, which could have been career-ending, in just a brief sentence or two, puts it in stark relief.
I still can’t do that. I know Mr Plaut is on here…also a master…and there are others. I read every COAL. I’ve had some misadventures in my life, but being able to take that kind of garbage, reduce it to a sentence or two and then sail on is to be admired. It’s so easy to forget just how much our world has changed. Babies had uncurable AIDS. Just that fact, and that people wouldn’t touch them, AND WOULD AND COULD FIRE YOU for helping them…we’ve come so very, very far.
Happy to see your post. When I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, was suspected of having AIDS. Fortunately not true. However frequent absences from long time ( 30 years) job of great reviews, was not so gently pushed out the 🚪 door. Sad to see current revival of so many issues 😢. If only we had Elizabeth for President! 🏆.
In the late 1980s a lesbian coworker of mine said that some years earlier, a guy in her social circle was tired all the time, and people ragged on him, called him a wuss, etc. In hindsight they thought he had been an early AIDS case, before we even knew what it was, and they felt terrible.
Yes, AIDS was the big deal in the mid-’80s and I lived in the Bay Area. Lots of ignorance back then, just like with Covid to some extent, when faced with a new “bug” that is invisible. I had finished training and was working in an office in the East Bay and one day a new patient was in. In getting his case history I saw the meds he was on so I knew what was up but so what and we proceeded. The patient was taken aback when I touched his face to instill drops. Not an issue for me or the senior doc. That one patient was the source of a fair amount of referrals. Sadly many did not make it far into the ’90s.
At some point I read an article that mentioned, among other things, a guy who became HIV+. His sister believed that it was possible to contract AIDS by casual contact. One day she signaled that she no longer believed that, by letting her brother hold her baby.
It is hard to beat a Celica. The first generation was too tight and narrow, but after that – they were pretty terrific. They fit the era well. That era is over and all those cool little sporty machines that were practical, frugal and well built – gone as well. I really miss those years. I suppose the old Boomers needed something easier to climb in and out of, but SUVs? Did you people really need to do that to us?
My wife is tooling around in an Explorer and she loves it, which makes me happy – but still – there’s a hell of a lot of vehicle there that isn’t necessary and isn’t as efficient as the minivans we had up to then. I wish I can get my kids those old sporty cars, but they are either too dangerously old, or too overpriced after restoration. Those kids need cheap wheels and that’s what they got until they can buy something for themselves.
Reading your post a second time, have to respond regarding your personal issues. Hope you and Rick are still driving down the road of life happily 😊! The AIDS issue was such a huge problem. Anyone was discriminated against for wrong reasons. Have always admired Elizabeth Taylor 💖. 🏆. But even more for her leadership in fight against AIDS! Was fortunate enough to have been in personal (mail) contact with her for the last few years of her life! Her inner beauty exceeded all else. 💎 💜!
Rick W and W Andrew: I thought about whether or not to include that short paragraph about getting denied tenure. This is a car blog, and I didn’t want to veer too far from that. But I kept it in, because I felt it was important to do a bit of education: even when I tell that story to young LGBT folk they are amazed such a thing could have happened. We’ve come a long way. 🙂
Spoiler alert: HIV/AIDS issues figure more directly in my next COAL entry.
P.S. – tomorrow Rick and I celebrate 47 years together.
Steve, I’m glad you included that short paragraph and congratulations on your many years together. I’ll never forget Princess Diana for embracing those with AIDS when most people exhibited the attitudes of your university colleagues. Her deep sense of humanity should never be forgotten and this history is something young folks should be taught for decades to come.
Please see my posts. Just saw yours. So great to communicate with others. My admiration for Elizabeth Taylor is so like yours for Diana. Spent many great times in CA. Still California Dreaming, having left my Heart ❤ in SAN FRANCISCO.
So happy that you included that paragraph. We need to connect with each other, especially NOW. Hope you and your Rick had a very special anniversary! How many couples 💑 of any kind can reach that number? So honored to have become in contact! You two prove that what So many (like me) dream of CAN come true!
A very nice write-up. I also had a ’83 Celica, it was a GT hatch but no A/C either. Other than it being basically biodegradable, I loved that car. I saw one on AutoTrader a couple months back and if I was living on my dream property (out in the country with a big garage) would have definitely pulled the trigger as the asking price was only slightly out to lunch.
I can’t help with the plural (my vote would be Celicae), but there’s this. Scroll down til you get to the table of pronunciations and click to listen. Italian is fun. So is Iceland. Finnish is like wow, how’d they get that many syllables out of “Toyota”? Oh, wait, no, I see now—they stole syllables from the Japanese pronunciation, which is how come there are four in “Toyota” as pronounced Finnishly, and only two as pronounced Japanesely. (there are multiples of most countries, so if what I say makes no sense, try the others).
I’d call some of the Russian ones entertaining, but ain’t nothing entertaining about no Russians. Instead, try the second Turkish one, third up from the bottom of the page. Australia: fair dinkum. And the Welsh. And the Polish, “Toyota Tselitsa”! Okeh, I stop now.
I work with a lot of Finns, but never knew that Toyota was a four syllable word in Finnish!
Thanks for this COAL, perfect cars for your purposes (except for the A/C) and you managed to land the correct jobs despite the headwinds.
Daniel, once again you amaze us with a totally unexpected website. How DO you find these things? 🙂
I love the story of the Celicae. Now that you’ve coined the term, it is stuck in my head!
When I bought my first new car in 1985 I was commuting between Norwalk, CT and Stamford, CT, about a 40 minute bumper to bumper drive in those days. I insisted on A/C – about $800 – because I had been stuck in traffic many times in hot humid weather, with rain so the windows would be shut.
What were the choices and what did you wind up with?
Steve, I’m glad you included that paragraph about your tenure experience. It’s easy to forget the terror AIDS struck in the heart of most folks back then.
I was a biochemist working in a pathology lab in a major teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and I had colleagues who flat refused to deal with any sample from an AIDS patient. They’d down tools, step away from the bench, and call somebody else over. Now these were people with science degrees – Bachelors mostly, some Masters – and the lab subscribed to many medical journals; the latest authoritative research information was right there in the department for them to read but – nope. Not taking any chances. Our oh-so patient director would call in other medical research specialists to address us with the latest information, but there were still some holdouts. They might be wrong. Not touching it. So they’d call me over. I’d just follow sensible decontamination protocols after handling a sample, and I never got it.
Not to minimize your pain in the least – (mis)using AIDS as an excuse for denial of tenure is reprehensible. But if people working in the field were running scared, how much more the common academic.
That Celica must have seemed so different from the other cars you mention you looked at. Buying it was a no-brainer. I think all the ones in my country were STs. I remember when my friend’s brother bought the first Toyota I’d had a close look at. He wanted a Celica but had to carry his aged parents, so needed a sedan. Unlike my Ford, everything fitted perfectly. Everything worked properly. No warranty repairs were ever needed. And it just ran and ran. It left you seriously wondering why all cars couldn’t be like this.
I can’t add anything to the comments made already to an excellent article so I’ll have a go at the plural. Celica is apparently derived from the Latin ‘coelica’ (meaning celestial) which is a feminine singular adjective – the plural of which would be ‘coelicae’. But since ‘Celica’ is a derivation, plus we’re using it as a noun, it’s a tad misplaced to get the Latin grammar book out so fill your your boots and use whatever plural feels right to you!!!