Attracted to All-Trac
So, my daily finds for project cars have little rhyme or reason to them; really, it’s about what I find within a few minutes of searching that strikes me as the perfect project at that moment in time. Today we have Japan’s answer to Subarus with a snail; none other, of course, than the Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo.
I know, I know – a Japanese car? A dreaded appliance??! But really, I don’t consider this what one might label today’s bread-and-butter people haulers that have about as much character as a cup of Earl Grey tea paired with a piece of rye bread and lukewarm butter. Or something. So please, leave your Avalon references at home – this car comes from an era when the tiny country that is today known for global dominance of all things green and economical actually gave a damn about performance.
There’s a lot I love about this Craigslist listing for what appears to be an ’86-’87 Celica All-Trac Turbo. The seller says don’t bother asking what’s wrong with it, because there’s nothing to tell! A few bumps to the bumpers and nothing a bit of spit and polish can’t fix. JUST DON’T BOTHER HIM WITH YOUR SILLY QUESTIONS ABOUT MECHANICAL INTEGRITY. Harumph.
The seller might consider trades. In fact, he even lives in a town from Connecticut that is famous for accepting swaps (at least according to his information under ‘Location’). And don’t worry – although this is described as a project car, it can be daily driven with ease! Don’t ask its current owner if there’s anything stopping you from driving it anywhere, ’cause there ain’t. So quit the interrogation – can’t you see men are working here, trying to buy his All-Trac?
I don’t mean to chastise the guy, but since when does 1980s + turbocharged + all wheel drive + manual transmission + pop-up headlights + an actual professional rally driver who drove a near-identical car on the world’s greatest stages (in other words, hoon impressions likely) = Camry reliability? I think not. But I still want it.
Hell, according to Mr. All-Trac, all I need to worry about is a cracked mirror.
Insert Beige Camry jokes
So Japan’s answer to a Japanese car is…a Japanese car?
And who’s to say Japan still doesn’t care about performance? Nissan just announced a new limited variant of the GT-R, one of the fastest production vehicles of all time. Not to mention the Z family, and Nissan even took a Juke and put a GT-R powertrain in it because they could. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo is a rally staple. Mazdas are consistently sporty (not necessarily mind-blowing, but still fun to drive) as are Subarus (and in fact, Subaru’s new BRZ sports coupe is a rebadged…wait for it…TOYOTA!). Japan has far from redirected its attention from performance.
My point was more that the Japanese of the 80s and early to mid-90s took far more chances with performance variants than they do today.
The GTR, the Lexus IS-F, the WRX STI – obtainable for a few. The BRZ/FRS twins are the first examples in a very long time of affordable (relatively), rear-wheel drive performance cars from Japanese automakers.
When you look back, the abundance of FX-16s, Corolla GTS’, hatchback Civic Si’s, CRXs, Celicas, Integra GSRs, Galant VR4s, Preludes, Colt Turbos – hell, even a Nissan Sentra 4WD wagon – the Japanese of yesteryear were far more prone to throwing caution to the wind and sending over affordable, performance-minded variants that have largely been eliminated but for the privileged few that can afford them (the Scionbaru not withstanding).
Oh, and check back with me on the Juke with a GTR powertrain. I believe a few Sultans are on the list to own one, but it ain’t made for folks with middle-income bank accounts.
Of course! And thank you for viewing our page! – SoT