Used Car of the Day: 1976 Toyota Celica GT

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

We're going wayback to the '70s for today's UCOTD. Meet this 1976 Toyota Celica GT liftback with a five-speed manual.


The seller says its been restored and well maintained and is mostly stock except for a few "aesthetic" things. Those things appear to be the wheels, the seats, and rear window louvers.

If you wanted to go back from the 15-inch wheels to the 14-inch OEM ones, you can -- the seller can include them. He or she can also include the OEM seats, which does need some upholstery work.

The previous owner appears to have done a lot of work, including paint and repairing rust. Outside of the cold idle being a bit high, apparently the car runs and drives well.

It's based in Texas, has about 65K miles on it, and the asking price is $22,500.

Click here for more.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 36 comments
  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on May 02, 2024

    Sweet car.

  • Bd2 Bd2 on May 02, 2024

    As I have posited here numerous times; the Hyundai Pony Coupe of 1974 was the most influential sports and, later on, supercar template. This Toyota is a prime example of Hyundai's primal influence upon the design industry. Just look at the years, 1976 > 1974, so the numbers bear Hyundai out and this Toyota is the copy.

    • Bd2 Bd2 on May 03, 2024

      Correction, as "Anal"/the HMG troll has posted numerous times...

  • Theflyersfan The official car of someone saying "You sure there's nothing else available?" at the rental car counter.
  • Allen Fischer It all started with the 1973 Arab oil embargo. High gas prices made people look to the Japanese for fuel efficiency, then realized the other benefits, like longevity. The Toyota Camry has many times been seen as "the most Ameican made car" in the U.S. I own one and question why "the big three" have not been duplicate this, its just a car. Toyota and Honda have lean business models and know how to "trim the fat". May the lean survive!
  • SCE to AUX If Pontiac died by 1000 cuts, this had to be at least 10 of them.
  • Bd2 Another excellent article Murilee, I have always admired the engineering, quality and styling of these vehicles and credit their inspiration with the legendary Hyundai Tiburon which can fetch low six figures these days at private auctions.
  • Ravenuer Looking forward to it!
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