Description

1985 Toyota Celica GT-S Convertible

• One-owner car with only 4,590 actual miles on the clock
• Final model year for third-generation Celica (code A60)
• Last year of the rear-drive Celicas; one of 4,248 examples made in 1985
• Vehicle led a life of being covered and stored inside
• 2.4L SOHC, eight-valve four-cylinder engine with fuel injection (code 22R-E)
• Four-speed automatic transmission (code A40D) and 3.58 gearing
• New White exterior (code 041) with black, power-folding canvas top
• Gray cloth interior (code GN26)
• Air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes with discs in front and cruise control
• Original alloy wheels and radial tires

You know a car company is doing something right when it can afford to spin low-selling variants off of one of its most popular models. That is what Toyota did in the 80s by offering a convertible version of its popular Celica coupe, which had grown in popularity since introduction in 1970.

With its muscular, angled styling and pop-up headlamps, the Celica was instrumental in drawing more and more mid-80s American consumers away from the Big Three’s subcompacts and sport coupes. Add Toyota’s sterling reliability during this period and it is easy to see why so many people switched and never looked back.

This one-owner example is finished in New White (code 41) with a contrasting black trim and a power-folding canvas top. Has only 4,588 miles new! The car’s paint and trim are in overall excellent order, which aligns with reported low mileage and how well this car has been taken care of over the past 37 years. The bodywork is straight and solid, the body-colored bumpers fit tightly to the body, the engine bay is extremely tidy, as is the trunk’s cargo area.

This Celica rolls on its original Bridgestone Potenza radials, size 225/60HR14 at every corner. Each one is mounted to a factory Silver 4 double-spoke alloy wheel. The wheels are in good, original order.

Under that hood is a 2.4L SOHC, eight-vale four-cylinder engine with fuel injection (code 22R-E). Backing this motor is a four-speed automatic transmission (code A40D) and a 3.58:1 rear end. Besides the aforementioned power top, driver convenience features include air-conditioning, power rack-and-pinion steering, power brakes with discs in front, power windows and cruise control.

Inside, the car’s gray, contoured cloth front buckets (code GN26) and 50/50 split rear sear are all in excellent condition, as is the matching gray carpet. The original two-spoke steering wheel is present and the black instrument panel with its full array of gauges and black inner door liners with gray cloth inserts all look great. The center console and shift lever are in fine shape. A factory AM/FM stereo with cassette deck and nine-band graphic equalizer, rounds out the interior.

In 1985, the engine was significantly reworked, with many parts from the newer 22R/R-E are not compatible with those from the older pre-1985 engine. Non-compatible parts include the cylinder head, block, pistons and many of the associated parts such as the timing chain and cover, and water and oil pumps (although the oil pump internals are the same).

The GT-S included larger 14×7-inch wheels and 225/60HR14 tires, fender flares, independent rear suspension, a sports interior including special seats, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter knob. Most of these came from the Supra. This made sense as the Supra was based on the Celica.

The GT-S convertible, built by American Sunroof Company (ASC) in California, was originally released in a limited 200 units in 1984. Four thousand, two-hundred and forty-eight more were built for the 1985 model year.