Toyota Celica: A20/A35, ST165, ST185 and ST205 GT-Four (1970 to 1999)

The Celica was Toyota's sporting coupe for seven generations, from 1970 until 2006. Two groups of cars dominate the UK classic market. The first is the original A20/A35 Celica of the 1970s, a rear-drive coupe based on the Carina saloon, which brought American pony car style to a compact Japanese package. It was never a big seller in the UK, so survivors are scarce, and many have been modified or fitted with different engines.

The second group is the four-wheel-drive turbocharged GT-Four, built to homologate Toyota's Group A rally cars. The ST165 began Toyota's full-scale World Rally Championship programme and won Carlos Sainz the 1990 drivers' title. The ST185 took Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol to further drivers' titles, and the ST205 followed in 1994. On the road the GT-Fours are fast, secure and well equipped, with a durable 2.0 litre 3S-GTE engine, but they are complicated cars that were often driven hard.

The GT-Four's reputation brings two particular risks: lesser Celicas dressed up as GT-Fours, and heavily tuned engines with no record of who did the work. Rust is a concern on every generation. A buyer at a static viewing should concentrate on identity, rust, signs of crash repair and the service record.

A20/A35 (first generation)

• Years: 1970 to July 1977 (Ate Up With Motor).
• Bodies: two-door coupe; Liftback from 1973 in Japan, exported from 1976.
• Engines: 1.4 and 1.6 litre T-series, including the 2T-G twin cam offered in the UK from 1975; 2.0 litre R-series, including the 18R-G twin cam in Europe from 1976.
• Gearboxes: four- or five-speed manual or automatic, depending on market.
• Production: more than one million first-generation cars according to Ate Up With Motor. Goodwood Classic Solutions gives "roughly a million" for all Celicas, an apparent conflict.

GT-Four generations

• ST165: Japanese sales from October 1986 (JDM Buy Sell, citing Toyota); evo dates the GT-Four from May 1988, probably reflecting rally homologation. 2.0 litre 3S-GTE turbo, 185PS in Japanese rating; Auto Express gives 182bhp for UK cars. Full-time four-wheel drive with a lockable centre differential.
• ST185: 1989 to 1993. Standard export cars about 200 to 204bhp depending on source, Japanese cars about 225PS. Five-speed manual only.
• ST185 RC homologation car: around 5,000 built; sold in the UK as the Celica Turbo 4WD Carlos Sainz from March 1992. Toyota UK's figure of 440 for the UK is quoted by both evo and JDM Buy Sell.
• ST205: UK launch May 1994, 239bhp, five-speed E154 gearbox, viscous centre coupling and Torsen rear differential, aluminium bonnet. Evo says about 2,500 were needed for homologation and only around 300 came to Europe.

• A20 1974 facelift: square sidelights, bonnet bulge and bigger bumpers for the US. Pre-facelift coupes have trapezoid sidelights and slimmer bumpers.
• A20 1976: chassis codes changed with emissions updates, such as TA23 and RA23 for coupes and TA28 and RA28 for Liftbacks outside North America.
• ST165: water-cooled intercooler and pop-up headlamps.
• ST185 standard: air-to-air intercooler fed by a bonnet scoop. The RC or Carlos Sainz car has a water-to-air intercooler and a metal turbine. From 1992 Toyota emblems replaced script badges.
• ST205: fixed headlamps, Super Strut front suspension, intercooler water spray. A small number of WRC specification cars had a high-level rear wing and extra rally equipment.
• Front-drive models: the 1994 to 1999 generation came as 1.8 ST (114bhp) and 2.0 GT (173bhp); the 1999 to 2006 car had 1.8 litre engines of 140bhp or, in the 190, 189bhp (Auto Express). These are modern used cars rather than classics, and checks focus on service history, recall work on the fuel tank and brakes, tailgate struts and crash damage.

Bodywork and structure

• A20/A35: sills, boot floor and inner wings. Dry-climate history helps but does not guarantee sound metal.
• GT-Fours: sills, wheel arches, strut mountings and the sunroof panel. Auto Express adds the rear hatch on the ST165.
• ST205: sills, arches and the brake pipes along the floor. Check the aluminium bonnet for dents, since replacements are scarce.
• ST165 and ST185: check that both pop-up headlamps work, and look at panel gaps around them for crash repairs.
• A wet passenger footwell on an ST205 usually means a leaking heater matrix.

Engine

• A20: the engines are understressed. Look for contaminated oil, leaks and poor oil pressure.
• 3S-GTE: an iron block and alloy head make it tough in standard form. Check for oil and coolant mixing, leaks and smoke, which can indicate a worn turbo. Ask for dated cambelt invoices; PistonHeads gives an interval of 63,000 miles or five years for the ST205.
• ST165: worn turbo pipework, intercooler air leaks and cracked inlet manifolds (Auto Express).
• ST205: confirm the charge cooler circulates coolant properly.
• Tuned cars: look for aftermarket boost controllers, intercoolers and wiring, and ask for proof of who did the work.

Gearbox and drivetrain

• Sources differ on the GT-Four gearbox. Evo calls it durable with linkages that wear, while Auto Express lists weak gearboxes on the ST185.
• A rear clonk usually means worn differential mountings.
• Clutch replacement needs the engine out, so check for a high bite point or slip.

Suspension, steering and brakes

• ST205 Super Strut: knocks under braking or over bumps point to worn camber control links and lower arms.
• ST205 calipers are hard to source, so many cars have aftermarket brakes.

Electrics and interior

• Check air conditioning, sunroof, electric mirrors and, on UK ST205s, headlamp washers.

Identity and paperwork

• Only ST165, ST185 and ST205 chassis codes are GT-Fours. Check the chassis plate against the V5C.
• A wide body does not prove an RC or Carlos Sainz car, since the Japanese GT-Four A shares it. Look for the water-to-air intercooler and documentation.
• Imported ST205s usually lack headlamp washers. Auto Express warns of front-drive GTs that are really STs and of GT-Four replicas.
• For an A20, use the chassis plate to confirm the engine type. GOV.UK limits the historic tax class to vehicles built before 1 January 1986, so only the 1970s cars qualify.

Mechanical parts for the 3S-GTE are reasonably easy to find because they are shared with other Toyotas, though some GT-Four trim and brake parts are scarce. Support for the first-generation car in the UK is limited. Toyota UK names the GT-Four Owners Club as the specialist club, but no official website could be confirmed. The Toyota Owners Club (https://www.toyotaownersclub.com) hosts forums for all Celica generations. For registration matters, DVLA's list of owners' clubs names the Toyota Enthusiasts Club.

• Does the chassis code on the plate and V5C match the claimed model?
• Is the car a UK model or an import, and what specification differences does it have?
• When were the cambelt and clutch last changed, and is there an invoice?
• Has the engine been tuned, and who did the work?
• Have the sills, arches and strut mountings been repaired, and is there crash damage?