Jon Rood turned a $400 Celica into this Group B-inspired rally car. Full story here: www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/03/28/why-i-drive-1984-toyota-celica-gt
That’s so cool. I used to do that with all my old Celicas lift them up and put off road tires and take them down back roads. All the four-wheel drives would look at me so strange. It’s good to see somebody else doing that nowadays.
I find this crazy bc I'm actually looking to get a 86 Celica and i was leaning toward the street look and then i was watching a fast and furious video on the types of cars they had and seen the off road cars and totally changed my mind on wanting a street car. Hell i have a mustang for that. And to find this video just gave me an extra boost on turning my future celica into a off road car. Thank tou for posting this.
Done much the same thing with a 98 Twin Cam Hyundai Excel (Accent for you yanks). Dual battery system, fridge in back, roof rack with solar panel, rally tyres etc etc. Lot's of fun taking it on unsealed roads, camping etc.
Very rad! I've done something similar with an early 90s Civic Wagon. I absolutely love the looks I get riding around in this thing. I get people from all over that just want to sit and have a chat about it. Some know what it is, some have no clue but all love it.
Thanks Ben! I absolutely love my ole wagon. Mine is the "6 speed" technically, if you count "Super Low" as a gear. I'm constantly working on new things for it. It's always been a hoot to drive.
Toyota did create something just like it and they used it to compete in rally events. Toyota Team Europe began in 1975. They built a Celica GT-Four in 1987.
Awesome work. My friends and I used to get Hyundai Pony's and rip around forest service roads. You could get them for dirt cheap. Like $200 to $500. Im talking about the original RWD pony not the later re badged Excel that was FWD. I don't thing the US any of the RWD ones.
DrewLSsix not only did each motor trend show have individual sponsors, but they Also had the millions of dollars of ad revenue from RU-vid. I seriously doubt the money from motor trend on demand went into making videos at all.
Jonas Devenport. When you throw around "millions of dollars of ad revenue from youtube" you make your self look like a fool. And anything else you say is instantly suspect. If you dont know how youtube monetization works then you probably dont know how their individual sponsorships work either. Thay can be anything from some free parts to perhaps some money as well. But you throw around 'millions' like its something trifling to these companies. They spend millions on superbowl ad space, on entire ad campaigns in cable and broadcast tv, not on youtube channels.
Reminds me of rallye driving my 85 Supra trying to escape Chaco Canyon NM, with my body white-knuckling it next to me! Could have used your suspension!!
You Yanks are so lucky to have this much rugged space for such adventures. Here in England all land is neat and inhabited, owned by somebody, with old stiff upper lip folks making their unsolicited opinion known if you'd decide to do some interesting driving like that.
We go into more detail in the article on our website. Check it out: www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/03/28/why-i-drive-1984-toyota-celica-gt
I wish he would. I drive a 1985 GT-S hatch and wouldn't want to convert that, but it would be awesome to convert the coupe since it looks a bit like the Group B Celica.
Nice 2wd celica. Too many 4wd aholes will tell you that you can't off road in a 2wd. Heres my answer yes you can..... it doesn't have to be a lifted Tacoma with big fat mud terrain tires with a diff lock. It can be a 2wd geo or a mini van open diff whatever. You name it. Tires like mud and all terrain plays a big role in off roading.
In all fairness to Jon, we were limited on where we could go by our production vehicle, not by Jon’s car. That Celica is a total mountain goat. I hope we’ve at least given everyone a taste of its capabilities.
It's been used as open/closing car for many CRS rally's so it's been driven 9/10's on some pretty gnarly roads. As someone who's seen the car up close and driven it a few times, Jon has complete custom front a-arms and rollcage tied rear shock mounts giving it plenty of travel and capability to match the rally inspired stiff suspension.
@Texan52 - Absolutely. Was actually replying to David's original comment. You're right: this car was built for the rally stages and it more than handles its tasks.
what is interesting in the desert or any wilderness? its a whole lot of the same. try going to antarctica and check if we live in a flat earth with a dome barrier.
