Help with buying a Celica, Lookin at a 1996 ST, plez help decision Options

[Fealos]

Hi, I just had my car totalled by some stupid ass in a giant box truck, full of furniture, who ran a stop sign and blasted me going 50. His words were "There was a stop sign there?" What an idiot, huh? He told the cop that his air brakes went out. People are messed up, huh?

Even though I have stitches in my head and my knee is shattered, I was more pissed about my car which (athough you wouldn't recognize it) was a silver, manual Mazda 626 LX 2.5LV6.

I am lookin at a gold (kinda champagne colored) 1996 Celica ST coupe with 47k miles on it selling at $8000. It has an alarm, keyless entry, Cd player...
He says it is worth $11,000 according to blue book

Now I do want a sporty car, should I wait for a hatchback GT in a color I like better, or is this a good deal, and should I get this one and soup it up?

here is a link to the carsoup listing, with stats and a picture:
'96 Celica ST on carsoup

[Fealos]

what if I were to get the ST and put on an intake and an exhaust on there?
would that partly make up for the sluggy engine?

what about headers? I don't know what they are really, I have an idea, but what do they do and how much of a gain can they give? Also how much are they?

thanks for all your input!

Noah