Photo: BaT User: Wob
There are few things on the Lord's Earth that are better than a well-sorted, old-school JDM rear-wheel drive sports car. There's just something about that classic rear-drive sports coupe layout we've come to associate with muscle cars made to fit in a sensible Japanese package that's infinitely appealing. Then again, sensible isn't the word we'd use to describe the mods done to this particular 1977 Toyota Celica. But we would call them absolutely badass and worthy of your valuable and ever-fleeting attention.
We've seen a fair few American cars, be they Fords, Chevrolets or Chrysler products, swapped with engines from their rival brands. But a classic Celica sporting the same Honda F22C high-revving, four-cylinder monster engine is nothing short of a game changer. Compared to the plethora of different four-cylinder engines native to the first-generation A20/A30-series Celicas, this novel change in engine is a real night and day difference. Thanks to aftermarket individual throttle bodies from Jenvey and wicked-looking tubular headers from J's Racing, this Honda S2000 motor looks even sweeter than it did under the hood of its original host car.
Thanks to the heat-treated valve covers, there's almost a sense this motor could have been OEM equipment in some alternate universe where the world was overtaken by a cyberpunk dystopia back in the 1970s. The wicked custom Midnight Purple paint job fits this aesthetic perfectly. In any case, this beast of an engine is paired with the same six-speed manual transmission it was mated to in the S2000 for the same superb drivetrain that critics and fans alike still can't rave about enough to this day. But remember, this is no point-and-shoot, drag-racing American muscle car, so this custom build's suspension has to be absolutely perfect.
Luckily, a performance-tuned air suspension system from AccuAir makes not only that this Celica has better road manners than any stock gen-I Celica but also that it can carve canyon corners with the best of them. Add on aftermarket sway bars from Addco, lightweight fiberglass bumpers in the front and the rear, genuine carbon fiber interior trim pieces, and fiberglass bumpers in the lightweight performance credentials to satisfy any armchair number junkie who bases their opinions on people's custom builds on spec sheets alone.
The 16-inch BBS RS wheels sitting with Wilwood disc brakes at all four corners complete the look and make for one of the most menacing JDM builds we've seen anywhere in a long time. For two years, between 2018 and 2019, this build was on display at Los Angeles' prestigious Peterson Automotive Museum, and it's made appearances in quite a few custom car magazines. With its BaT Auction set to end on October 12th, could its next owner be any one of you?
Thanks to the heat-treated valve covers, there's almost a sense this motor could have been OEM equipment in some alternate universe where the world was overtaken by a cyberpunk dystopia back in the 1970s. The wicked custom Midnight Purple paint job fits this aesthetic perfectly. In any case, this beast of an engine is paired with the same six-speed manual transmission it was mated to in the S2000 for the same superb drivetrain that critics and fans alike still can't rave about enough to this day. But remember, this is no point-and-shoot, drag-racing American muscle car, so this custom build's suspension has to be absolutely perfect.
Luckily, a performance-tuned air suspension system from AccuAir makes not only that this Celica has better road manners than any stock gen-I Celica but also that it can carve canyon corners with the best of them. Add on aftermarket sway bars from Addco, lightweight fiberglass bumpers in the front and the rear, genuine carbon fiber interior trim pieces, and fiberglass bumpers in the lightweight performance credentials to satisfy any armchair number junkie who bases their opinions on people's custom builds on spec sheets alone.
The 16-inch BBS RS wheels sitting with Wilwood disc brakes at all four corners complete the look and make for one of the most menacing JDM builds we've seen anywhere in a long time. For two years, between 2018 and 2019, this build was on display at Los Angeles' prestigious Peterson Automotive Museum, and it's made appearances in quite a few custom car magazines. With its BaT Auction set to end on October 12th, could its next owner be any one of you?
Google News