(submitted by Michael Leckie) Way back in the mid 90’s, when I was a teenager looking for my first car I fell in love with the many JDM Celica XX’s (Celica Supra) that cruised the streets of Auckland. I looked, and looked, and looked for ages to try and get one, initially just manual 2.8’s then considered autos, 1G’s, turbos and even the poxy SOHC 2.0, but they all had a killer combination of being relatively expensive, and rusty! As a first time car owner, with a Dad who wasn’t in the least bit mechanically minded it was a bit too daunting. So eventually I gave up, and ended up with an ST162 Celica, which served me well. In all honesty it was probably a better and more suitable car at the time in many regards.
Fast forward a good few years, and in 2011 I ended up with a bit of cash I could use and thought to myself that I’d like to get a “toy”. So I started considering my options. I was working at Nissan New Zealand at the time, so thought about a Silvia, or 180SX, considered a Skyline etc, but I kept coming back to two cars that I’d always loved, the ST205 Celica GT-Four, and the MA61 Celica XX. I’d sort of kept an eye on MA61’s showing up on Trademe over the years, and thought about buying one in the past, but the timing was never really right. I finally found an MA61, and scored her for NZ$5500, after getting a little more carried away with the bidding than I probably should have.
The next problem was that it was at the other end of the country. This was a draw-card for the purchase however, as it was in Alexandra, very appealing for a rust prone car. So I got her shipped up, and went to pick her up. Did I mention I’d bought her sight-unseen? She was a little rougher than I expected. I could see from the pics online that she’d need a serious cut and polish at least, and figured she may need a repaint. Well, when I had a good look I could see that both sides had had repairs and been repainted at some point, and she was a number of different shades of red. There was also a patch of filler lifting in the RH quarter, which wasn’t really mentioned in the ad, but I didn’t let that worry me too much, I figured that I’d just bring my plans for a repaint forward.
So here’s how she looked when I got her:
before
So, I’d gotten the car, and needed to plot a course for what I wanted to do with it. I had to decide between three options. A full, back to original restoration (as you can see in the pics there’d been an attempt to make her look more like a Supra, rather than the XX she is). A fully modified, all out performance car, packing a worked 2JZ (NA), or a kind of middle path, with the car lightly modified, but fully able to be brought back to 100% stock. The middle way was the one I chose….
before
So I decided to theme my build as a modern interpretation of what I would likely have done to it IF I’d had one back in the mid-late 90’s. So I started collecting parts. Meanwhile I considered what I would do regarding the body. As previously mentioned there were some less than perfect repairs that had been done in the past, but I wasn’t quite ready for a full bare-metal restoration, so I decided that I’d get a repaint done, and have the repaired areas tidied up. I eventually (when my kids have grown up) plan on doing a full strip and rebuild, but I figure what I’ve done should keep her well enough for the next 20 years, given a little care. I had to decide on what colour to go for, as I wasn’t particularly enamored with the red/black, and I’d always thought they looked sharp in white or silver.
In the end though I decided that it’d be best to keep the colour standard. So in late 2011 I sent her off to GT Refinishers, a well-known and respected shop. I’d been feeling a little under-motivated with the car and the build, but after getting it back from paint I was revved up, and really started to appreciate the colour, I don’t think I’d have any other on her now! Along the way I got a set of original wheels, and when I had the car repainted I got the holes for the mouldings welded up. The drivers side one especially was a bit rippled, and I didn’t really like the look of the moulding just a little above the block of the two-tone. I thought it’d look a bit cleaner without them. So that was that. Gone.
I still have the mouldings , so if I feel the need I can always remove the tabs and reapply with tape. At the same time I also got the holes in the tailgate from the sunshade welded, I should explain that the pre-facelift JDM MA61’s didn’t get that shade, and on my particular car it had been attached by some very crude holes in the tailgate and self-tapping screws into the shade. I got a reproduction rear decal, and it looks great.
Getting the car repainted gave me the shot in the arm that I needed to get cracking with the rest of the work, but I wanted to enjoy it a bit, so I drove it around some, then got the exhaust done. The last owner has owned it for a good 15 or so years, but most of that time he’d had it stored, and just took it out for short drives. The exhaust system was shot, and I suspect it was from condesation from the type of use it was getting. So I collected some mufflers (Borla) and scored an OBX-R header on Ebay for cheap, and took it off to get all fitted up. Well, the header wasn’t going to fit, due to the steering shaft being in the way, which obviously isn’t a problem in the USA, where it’s made! I only bought it because it was cheap, and knew I was taking a punt, so wasn’t too disappointed. I got the exhaust guy to make me up a 2.25in system, from the manifold back, with a muffler where the cat was (cat is not required here for a car of that age), and a single-in, dual-out muffler at the back. I picked it up, and wow, it sounded so lush. Absolutely perfect, nice purr at idle, good bark under throttle, but nice and quiet at neutral throttle while cruising – exactly what I was looking for! In this pic you can see the new exhaust, and the difference between the rear as it was when I got it, and now with the correct (reproduction) decal, and the upper shade gone.
after
Feeling even more inspired, I put her up on the stands and got to work with the suspension and brakes. That took me a while, but finally got it all done. I took her for a drive, and it felt good, took it to work one day, and on the way home had a problem with lack of power. I did a bit of research, and pulled the fuel line into the pump, and yep, the little pre-filter was clogged. Cleaned it out, and she ran great again…… for about 100km. When it happened again I decided I should pull the tank and get that all cleaned up. I got a POR15 fuel tank re-sealing kit on order, in the meantime my first child was due. Needless to say it was a few months before I got around to that job. What a horrible task, hopefully the last time I ever need to do one of them, next time I’m going pay someone else to do it! But, finally, all back together, and no problems since, so back on the road, and loving it!
So after getting her on the go again it was time to start taking her out a bit. I’ve been to a couple of meets with an on-line forum/club that I’m a member of (oldschool.co.nz), and probably the best outing so far has been the two morning meets I made it to at Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Ranch in January, they were meets that kicked off at 7am and finished up at 9am, a good 1.30-2hr trip from my place in Auckland. It was awesome heading down super early in the morning, and still able to be home by lunch time! Here’s a pic that as I was leaving the second one.
I made it to the Toyota Festival, which was good to check out. And Aftermarket Photography shot about the best pic I have of my car so far!
After the Toyota Festival I picked up some new wheels from a friend. They’re 15×8 on the front and 15×9 on the back, all 0p, running 205/50R15’s. I’m pretty happy with the fit:
So that’s pretty much up to date. She’s back in the paint shop to get a wee bit of damage I did to the bonnet fixed up (dropped the bonnet on to the PS reservoir cap that was sitting on the strut tower!), and to get some other detail stuff tidied up, cowl painted, wiper arms etc. I’ve also got some other 17×7.5 wheels that I’m getting painted black, just for a different feel, I’ll likely use them more for “touring” type driving.
Apart from that the future plans are to chuck some tints at it – I know, I know, not cool on an old car, but I think they will suit the colour scheme, and it’ll help to keep the interior good, and remember, it is themed on what I would’ve done as a teenager in the late 90’s. I’ve also got to sort something out for sounds, I’m looking for something modern with bluetooth etc, but I want something that is reasonably subtle, not some silly Pioneer/Sony light-show, and some reasonable speakers to put in the factory locations. I still need to tidy up the engine bay. Apart from that it’s just drive it as much as I, especially for the next few months as I’ve got another baby due early Feb, so I’ll probably not be driving after that!
Love the new wheels, very period correct.
And I agree on the tint, I’m not a huge fan of it on older cars, even though it’s very practical where I live. I think with the extremely 80’s styling of your car, and all the black trim, tint will look good.
I’ve done the POR-15 thing, too. Once. It’s a really, really nasty job…
Oh, and who says tint isn’t cool on old cars? Never really heard that in the USA, despite even working in the classic car biz for a while. Is that an NZ thing? Or is it because I live in Texas, where tint is practically a necessity?
To be period correct it would have to turn purple soon after application!
I guess the thing is don’t go too dark on the tint. Nice car Michael, good luck with the future plans. Don’t stop driving it once the new baby arrives, as you have noted the issues that causes.
For all its similarity to the contemporary four-cylinder Celica, the A60 is a muscular-looking car in a way the A70 really doesn’t match — the A70 is more powerful and faster, but it doesn’t have the same visual aggression.
Something that might be worth investigating is the suspension changes to the 1984–85 European cars. Toyota had gotten a lot of criticism at least from the British press for the handling being on the stodgy side going in and then making an abrupt transition to final oversteer, which was not a happy combination. At the time, Toyota owned part of Lotus, so they got Lotus to re-tune the Supra’s suspension to good effect. They didn’t alter the layout, but did an extensive rethink of the spring, damping, and bushing rates. (Lotus was apparently somewhat frustrated with the whole project because Toyota initially insisted they keep the 195-section tires — on which Lotus then based their tuning — and then stuck fat 225/60s on most of the export cars anyway, I think mainly because the local sales organizations thought they looked better.)
I don’t know how much the changes were market-specific (I don’t think they were made on JDM cars), but they were apparently worthwhile. Most of the British testers who’d complained about the original said the retuned cars were more composed and a lot less twitchy. I’d be curious to see if it would be possible to make similar changes, if I were tinkering with things anyway.
Toyota suffered the same criticism here in NZ on its bread and butter cars and got a local ex grand prix racer to retune their best seller the Corona, the difference between local and JDM cars is chalk and cheese as far as driving is concerned,
I don’t care all that much for the Celica that was sold at the same time as this “Supra”…I always felt it looked too much like a transformer toy. The Supra on the other hand…. This series looks the most masculine of all the Supra series. These are becoming difficult to find in the U.S. having rusty away from the wheelwells out.
Loved the Supra when it came out during my late high school years. You’ve really done a knock-up job with your car – love the cleanness without the busy graphics and louvers.
Sweet looking car. Here in North America, it’s sold as the Celica Supra, or just the Supra. I’ve seen plenty of them when it first sold here in the USA.
I owned an ’82 Supra. It was the first new car I ever bought. I had gotten out of college and had a good job. What a smooth running engine!! For the time (early 80s) it was just phenomenally smooth, quiet and comfortable. But the stereo crapped out within 6 months and Toyota never could make it right. Then I moved to the desert and wanted something offroad and 4×4 so off it went. Those were the days….
This is by far my favorite japanese car, though I prefer the P-Type Supra (like the one I have). Nevermind that the next 2 generations are more popular and powerful, the MKII is the one I always wanted and I finally did it in 2010.
I bring it to old car shows and get many nice comments. There is usually 2 or 3 other MKIIs, but they are usually worn out, not very well taken care of.
On the appearance side, I’m more of a purist, but yours looks very good. Congratulations.
Don’t rice it out.
Nice car, I’m not a fan of the Tarago Van wheels in the first photo having seen them attached to thousands of people movers takes the sporty image away, Other than that its a nice example of whats now a fairly rare car.
Neat looking car back from the days when Toyota was really trying. Your car looks great in all the pics but truly outstanding in that one from Aftermarket. What kind of technique did they use do you know?
As for the tint I hate the way it looks but have it on two of my old cars simply to protect the interior. It’s going to look nice with the red just don’t go too dark.
Love it. Great choice of car, and you’ve made some classy decisions about which way to go with it.
Always did like this bodystyle. Im in the ‘go with the tint’ camp. The car is already red and black so go for it! I do like your choice in wheels too…they give the car a muscular look. Personally, I like the look of those funky stockers too…at least the design of the centers. They need more width and offset though, like many wheels from this era. Either way, you scored the car you wanted and it looks like a good project.
Sharp car dude!
Fantastic write-up Michael! Nice to read the background (and the extra details on old school), and I love the before & after shots! As with a number of the comments above, I love the muscular look of the MA61 styling – and the ones with the wheelarch flares dial it up to 11. Glad you kept it red, it’s my favourite colour on these (although I do like the light bronze too).
I notice that on some XXs, the black lower part goes right up to the body moulds, and on some, like yours, it stops and inch or so below. I thought it was maybe a pre/post facelift things, but google shows me pre- and post-facelift XXs with both types! They look better when the black is lower, but then the body mould ends up looking too busy (and aftermarket), so removing them definitely works (and keeping them ‘just in case’ is great). Anyone know why the black paint is higher on some?
The Rotas look fantastic on it – normally I prefer factory wheels, but when aftermarket looks as good as those, there’s no comparison!
Anyway, top effort with the car, I’ll have to see it in person soon!
Not sure if it helps, but in the US later Dino GT4s had the same sort of lower blackout which was a factory instruction for dealers to apply around the time they became Ferraris (along with some other upgrades IIRC). Some dealers did, and some didn’t, hence the inconsistencies on that model. I’m doubting that’s how Toyota handled it, but maybe someone else knows.
Nice ride, Michael. Thanks for sharing.
Nice car mate–Loved these cars when they were new. Its very rare to see them in my area now–like most 80’s cars. The coupes were a little strange in the styling–I think it was Car & Driver that stated the rear slanted taillights looked like a bad ethnic joke.
Nice ride. Always liked the clean look of this model Toyota. Window tint on red and black looks good, and in a hot climate it really saves the interior. Go for it. Like the restraint you used in the modifications, great looking ride.
I almost had this car (except US-spec, of course) as my 2nd car. It was a red 82 Supra so it looked pretty much identical. “Mine” had black lower panels because it was already rusting out (in 1989) but I still thought it looked really sharp. I only didn’t get it because my insurance was gonna be more than the payments for the car.
But I’ve always had a soft spot for this generation of Celica/Supra, as much as I thought the later Supras were cool, the pre-fender flare ones just looked nicer to me.
So what exactly is the difference between a Celica XX and a Supra? As some others have noted, we didn’t have the XX in the USA. I’ve never been quite sure if it was simply a “different names in different places” sort of thing or if it was an in-between kind of model.
I do love these though–love the Supras especially but also really like the “standard” Celicas of this generation. The Celica styling is one of the best of the “school of early 80’s Japanese angular” and the Supra/XX modifications give it the perfect aggressive edge. Yours looks fantastic! And I personally like the wheels in the first photo, though the “touring” ones would be good for a change too. Great job with it!
Love the car but I’m looking for side and bak Louvers anyone know where I might find some ?