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Toyota Celica A20 and A30
After the sales flop of the beautiful and highly advanced Toyota 2000 GT in the late ’60s, the Japanese company didn’t give up. They still wanted to enter the affordable American sports car market. Toyota realized they needed a more conventional model with a much lower price. But, it needed a design similar to their already known form. And that is how the first generation, from 1970 to 1977 Toyota Celica came to be.
Toyota built it on the standard Toyota Carina base. But the Celica was one step above the popular Corolla in terms of size, technology and engine power. They introduced the new Celica to American buyers in 1970 with two body styles, a regular two-door coupe and a hardtop fastback. Immediately, people compared the new Celica to the Ford Mustang because they were clearly inspired by Ford’s pony car.
In fact, the Celica was a sportier version of Toyota’s regular production sedan, just like the Mustang was for Ford. The Celica proved to be popular, so by the end of 1977, they sold more than 200,000. The most popular versions were the 2.0 and 2.2-liter engines that delivered a solid performance and satisfying driving dynamics at a modest price.