Santiago Lopez Barranco - 1989 Celica Gt-Four ST165

This is my 1989 Celica Gt-Four ST165.

I have owned car since September 2019

It is a UK model car

I purchased this particular model as my dad owned the same model Celica, in the same colour when I was growing up. Ever since I have been able to drive I have been on the lookout to buy one in the same colour/spec, but up until a few years ago I never found the right car at the right time.

I found it one day when I was randomly searching on facebook marketplace, not even looking for a Celica! It was over 3 hours drive away and it was in a sorry state, but something told me to take the journey over there and take a look. The car had been sat on the previous owners driveway for nearly 10 years and was rotting away, they didn’t want to sell it as he used the car to get married in, but thankfully realised it was time to go before it became beyond repair. I could see it needed a lot of work but that didn’t put me off, it felt right to do what the car needed which was to be saved!

After getting the car recovered all the way back to my local garage, I asked them to make the car MOT ready. I was going to try and do some of it myself but with only having a basic knowledge and limited time due to work, I thought I better leave it to the experts so I can get the car back on the road sooner. It was the longest 8 weeks of my life! I couldn’t wait to drive it. Upon passing the MOT I did what most car enthusiasts do when buying a new car and pass through a MacDonald’s drive through. It took me back to the days of driving through there in my dads Celica.

Thankfully the interior came complete with the car, but the exterior of the car is the where the challenges laid. As the car came with a bodykit from factory, some of the pieces of the kit were missing, I searched high and low but eventually after getting to know people in the community they pointed me in directions of who could help. Finding most parts is a challenge on these Celica’s, especially genuine Toyota parts which is almost impossible!

Thanks to covid there was a delay in getting the car to the bodyshop but it eventually underwent a full windows out restoration at my local bodyshop. As you can see from the photos, this completely transformed the car! Shortly after adding the OZ alloy wheels the car was complete and ready to enjoy.

A few months later, my dad came over from Spain to visit me, which is when I revealed the Toyota to him. I had kept it a secret that I bought the car and was doing it up as I wanted to wait until the car was in presentable condition to show him. It was one of happiest moments of my life and his! My favourite moment in the car to date is driving to MacDonald’s with him in the passenger seat going through the drive through, just like we did all them years ago in his!
Going forward I want to keep working on the car to make it run and steer even better, upgrading bits in the engine and suspension. My long term plans are to drive the car to the south of spain where my dad lives and do a tour of Europe in it.