6G Celicas Forums

In the outer set, the lamps are 30% wider in the top two, nearly 40% wider at bottom right. The inner set has narrower lamps at top right, making the long axis in opposite directions. Those three all have the inner set slightly lower. Of course, bottom left is the original. Top left or top right is what I imagine the headlights might have looked like in the 2000s if Toyota hadn't gone for the G7 but rather made minor changes to a continuing G6.

Just goofing around with a photo from RushKit.com, I came up with some slight styling modifications of just the headlights, to get an idea what might be possible with a custom kit (or a reborn G6C). One of the four pictures is the original. Of course, you can tell which one. How did I do?

I'm not sure what material is best to work with, but after what you've learned about the project working in clay, you might consider drafting out the parts precisely on paper then working in balsa, slowly and carefully taking a piece down first with files then smoothing with sandpaper, which can give you accurate parts. And you can still correct minor errors with putty before priming and painting. (Actual mileage may vary, depending on patience and skill.)

I agree about the boot cover (the piece to cover the convertible top when it's down). I would never even carry it in the car.

Another thing with the convertible is the motion safety switch, which prevents you from operating the top if the parking brake is not engaged. It's similar to the neutral saferty switch every car with auto trans has to prevent you from starting the car if it's not in Park, which is logical. But if I start to put the top down at a stop light and need to get moving before it's completely down, the Celica's motion safety switch won't allow it. This switch is engaged by the parking brake so that it works the same with automatic or manual tranny.

Only 48,000 miles and original owner. We don't drive that much in Japan.

By the way, I live in Japan, and I know of some low-mileage GT4s for sale here. One is white, with 11,000 kilometers (less than 7,000 miles) on it, priced at 2.08 million yen (over $20,000). In the pictures, at least, it looks showroom fresh and completely stock. Of course, there are some high-milers with still-valid inspection certification and insurance (with 3 months or more remaining, they can be legally exported) in the $4,000 range. And yes, all right-hand drive.

The good ones at least can actually be found at any time on the Car Sensor Web site, which I can navigate, because I can read Japanese. It has pictures of the cars and detailed information on them. It lists the cars in price order, sorted according the search parameters you input. Posting a link here wouldn't be helpful, because the information changes daily.

Okay, I checked the horsepower ratings again for the domestic models in the brochure. I guess the U.S. models were 135 hp because of some quota about average corporate gas mileage, but in Japan they were 255, 180, or 140. That's net. I don't know if they rate horsepower differently in the U.S.

Price? Yeah. Mine was over $30,000 in 1995, but that was new and a domestic version of the convertible. Used it wouldn't be much today. I don't know what the price would be for a 2008 Celi if they existed.

If it were being introduced just now, of course, the technology would be updated, and if the market demanded it, one would hope the horsepower would be competitive. In asking the question, I was thinking mainly about the styling, and I feel it has held up pretty well in that regard. I don't see many good-looking new cars these days.

What if the G6 were just making its debut now, against today's crop of mostly ugly cars? Do you think it would be the hottest thing on the street?

Here's a nationwide listing of G6 Celica convertibles in Japan, the highest at over $15,000 (with 19,000 kilometers [11.800 miles] on the odometer). Prices are in units of 10,000 yen, and these Celicas have a lot more horsepower than the U.S. models but with high torque peak. Clicking on a thumbnail brings up a large picture and details about the car (in Japanese).

http://www.carsensor.net/usedcar/search.ph...002&GRD=2.0

Okay, here's a crazy idea for the G8. Toyota buys Aston-Martin from Ford, and makes the next Aston a G6 Celica but with all-carbon-fiber body, DB7 headlights, grill, air extractors, and Aston-Martin engine and interior finish--with 18-inch wheels, of course (so best features of two great cars).

The Japanese car magazines do like to speculate:

They show Ethnicity: Other as outnumbering all others. Klingons? Unknown, obviously (don't ask; don't tell). But chart doesn't reflect that.

I posted a link in another thread for a specialty exporter in Japan that deals in GT4s. This shows a GT4 for $3,950 ($4,450 FOB) drivable and certified.

In English:
http://www.japan-partner.com/Auto/3658/Toy...r-for-sale.html

But there might be some company that buys the bumpers and hoods directly from a Toyota dealer in Japan and sends them overseas if there's enough profit in it. I don't know. I live in Japan, and my wife damaged the bumper on my G6 convertible, and the body shop put a new one on. It didn't cost much. I don't know if Toyota places restrictions on selling GT4 parts or if there is some export restriction. There is a law against exporting cars with less than three months left on the certification, unless that has changed recently. But I don't know about parts.

Well, the MR2 is a full two feet shorter. That's a lot. But there are some occasions that require that rear seating. And Celicas are still shorter than most cars. But for a 2-seater, there are so many great choices besides the MR2. Miata? Porsche!!? All things considered, I'll stick with the G6 Celica convertible.

Not a GT-Four, but I might buy one if I needed a second car. Mine's a convertible, with 47,000 miles on it.

Canada certainly has better roads for such cars than Japan. By the way, I remember the "Cheviacs" (Canadian-made Chevrolets with Ponitac styling parts) and "Plodges" (half Dodge, half Plymouth cars made in Windsor).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Pathfinder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Parisienne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plodge

By the way, have you guys heard of a car company in Japan called Mitsuoka? They buy cars from Nissan and transform them to look like British classics, mostly. One model is a convincing but fake Rolls-Royce, and their most popular model the Mitsuoka Viewt (made from a Nissan March) looks like a '50s Jaguar sedan. I've seen lots of those on the street.

Then, there's the Mitsuoka Orochi:

I asked my wife if she had any digital pix of the car. No. It looks the same as the U.S. models, except for the orange reflector in front of the front wheelwell. It's shorter, higher, and aft of the wheelwell on all cars in Japan, even imports. The engine is different, too: 200 hp stock. The model years are differnent here, too, even for imported used cars, some of which get a change of model year when registered here.

I work at home for various Japanese clients, doing technical/scientific writing, editing, whatever they need. And the reason for living in Japan? My wife is Japanese, and it's a safer place for my daughters. No guns, muggers, etc. We also have some English classes at home for neighbors. My wife teaches most of them.

We never had the G6 Celica coupe here in Japan. Like the convertible, that's a Curren with a Celica front end and nameplates. And the Curren was an obvious copy of the DB7 (except for the front end), shorter in overall length but with some rear leg room (the rear seats of a DB7 are for teddy bears). It becomes more obvious if you compare a Celica convertible against a DB7 Volante. But lucky for me, it's a great-looking car.

As a hobby, I made an alternative computer system, very different, from Windows, not well known but loved by the few thousand people who have it installed. More would like to have it but don't have a spare computer to put it on.

Here's a screenshot gallery:
http://www.startrek4u.com/index.php?page_id=12

Now, what's with the rumors about a G8 Celica in development????

Yeah, since 1986, San Francisco before that.

I was surprised to stumble across a forum dedicated to the G6 Celica. I'm keeping the convertible I bought new. I would have bought another if they had continued making them, but instead I'm making this one last. It doesn't have a lot of miles on it, because we use trains to go any distance here, and the station is only about a mile away.

The Curren was pretty popular here. I guess they've stopped making that, too.

The overall length of 177 inches is an important point in favor of the Celica for me, since there are some really narrow streets and tight corners here, with turns you couldn't even make in a DB9 or Jag XK, not that I'd buy something that expensive for the little bit of driving I do, anyway.

I do hope they bring the Celica back! Until then, this one's getting the best of maintenance.

You guys got me looking around the Web for info about the GT-Four, even though I've got the 31-page brochure from 1995 handy. I found a Japanese Web site offering a custom GT-Four hood for $1,200 and nose for $750.

http://www.c-one.co.jp/C-ONEPARTS/gtfour.html


And this Web site in English of a speciality exporter of used cars from Japan:
http://www.japan-partner.com/Auto/3658/Toy...r-for-sale.html

Well, I used to have a used-car lot in California, but I've lived in Japan since '86 and really don't know much about the car business anymore. I don't even do repairs now. The last car I got rid of when moving here was a '69 Trans Am, white with blue convertible top, a pretty rare bird. I hated leaving that behind.

My wife smashed up the front left corner a few months ago, and I suggested replacing the whole front end with one from a junked GT-Four. It would have looked cool to me, at least. I assume it would fit. But she said she didn't like that and wanted to keep it stock. She took it to the body shop. I didn't have time to go with her. So it's still stock but with a complete new paint job.

The '70 Celica was the first Japanese car I really liked, actually, other than the Toyota GT.

Actually, we have an inspection-certification system here in Japan, and G6 Celicas that people want to keep have to be brought up to code every three years. When the inspection runs out some people try to give their old cars away to friends, but there are few takers. And a used car can't be exported unless it has at least three months left on its certification.

So Russian sailors on shore leave in Japan were buying cars with just over three months before forced retirement to the junk yard, getting them shipped free to Russia, and selling them at a profit. The Russian government passed a law about right-hand drive to counteract that. So I don't know if that still goes on. Some Japanese wholesalers ship a lot of good used cars to New Zealand and Australia, which is said to be very profitable.

But there are some cheap GT-Fours here, probably high-milers, though.

I live in Japan, and when I just had to have a Celica convertible there was a long waiting list--pay now and wait. I talked to an auto broker, and he was able get me a display car from Yokohama, one of the first G6 Celica convertibles built, and they delivered it to my house a few days later, with about 100 miles on it, most of that from Yohohama to my house.

I keep it in top shape, because there is no other car I've seen at any price that I'd rather have. Just when I was going to buy another one like it new, the G7 came out. Anyway, it doesn't get a lot of miles on it, because we normally use trains in Japan to go any distance.

Unlike the U.S. versions, this car came with a 200-hp inline 4, available only with manual. And, of course, it's right-hand drive.

I had no idea there was such a thing as a G6 Celica forum or that the GT-Four wasn't sold outside Japan.

From my wife's Web site: