At $4,990, Does This 1996 Toyota Celica GT Convertible Mean Summer Never Has To End?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Celica offers wind in your hair driving on the cheap. Could it, however, be a better bargain than a like-priced MX5 or other open top?

When one hears the name Concord, the likely mental image provoked is of a cluster of grapes. The Concord grape is famously known for its use in jams, juices, terrible wines, and as a primary player in the Fruit of the Loom logo. First developed in the mid-1800s by Ephraim Wales Bull in Concord, Massachusetts, the Concord grape varietal takes its name from that New England city.

For our purposes, however, the name Concord refers to the 1981 AMC Concord sedan that passed our way yesterday. Sporting a surprisingly meager 3,600 miles on the clock, it is probably the nicest example still around. Unfortunately, few of you felt it needed to stick around, seeing as its four-cylinder/four-speed drivetrain would likely prove about as inspiring to experience as 3:00 AM CSPAN. That quelled any enthusiasm over its condition and $5,500 asking price, resulting in a 66% No Dice loss.

Let us hope that today’s 1996 Toyota Celica GT convertible provides a bit more of a thrill. While still just a four-pot like yesterday’s AMC, the 5S-FE 2.2-liter in the Celica is a DOHC 16-valve affair rocking a decent 135 horsepower (nearly twice what the Concord’s Iron Duke makes) and an even more impressive 145 Pound-feet of torque.

Working in tandem with that is a for-speed automatic, which drives the front wheels. This being a car from an era when people took their automatics at face value, that’s operated via a set-it-and-forget-it console shifter. There is no manual mode, nor steering wheel-mounted switches for any additional driver interaction.

That, along with factory AirCon, power windows and locks, and a reasonably roomy 2+2 cabin, makes this a respectable cruiser rather than a canyon carver. At least with its neo-retro bug-eyed styling, it’s a car with character. Add to that the convertible roof, and things start to get even more interesting.

That top is not a factory build. It is, however, factory authorized and was originally sold through Toyota dealers as a standard model, just like the coupe and liftback. These cars actually started out life as coupes, leaving Toyota’s Tahara City plant partially assembled and then shipped to Los Angeles, California, where each was can-opened by a company called Automobile Specialty Company (ASC). 

Originally, ASC stood for American Sunroof Corporation, but following the addition of both aftermarket and new convertible construction, the company changed its name. ASC not only built the Celica convertibles, but it also assisted Toyota in the model’s engineering, including strengthening the chassis to account for the roof’s removal and the addition of electrically operable rear side glass.

The result was a factory-appearing build that looks quite good, whether the top is up or down. On this car, the top is in perfectly serviceable shape, and happily, ASC even designed in a glass rear window.

In fact, the car overall seems to be in pretty good condition and not showing its nearly three decades of age or its reasonably substantial 189,653 miles of use. Painted in Renaissance Red, the bodywork presents as clean and shows no signs of damage or rust. Underneath that, the five-spoke factory alloys show no indication of blind dates with the curb, either. Amazingly, there’s not even any peppering on the nose, nor significant clouding of the lenses in the car’s bug-like headlamps.

It’s just as nice in the cabin, although some minor wear is noticeable in the driver’s seat outside bolster. Other than that, the kitschy ’90s-patterned cloth upholstery appears ready to rock and completely free of in-car dining accidents or the ghostly remains of sweaty passengers. The only glaring discordance in here is the single-DIN Pioneer CD head unit in the dash. That does bring an added bit of storage below, as the original factory stereo was of a double-DIN style. According to the ad, the car has a clean title and is described by the seller as being a “Rare and nostalgic car.”

That seller, by the way, is a small, gravel lot car dealer, and based on the shots in the ad, the Celica rivals a black two-door Mk5 GTI for coolest wheels in their inventory. At $4,990, it might even be a bit cheaper than that GTI as well.

What’s our take on this Celica convertible and that $4,990 asking? That’s keeping in mind that this being a dealer deal means there will be a few extras (document fees, taxes, etc.) tacked on to that amount.

Is that a deal for a high-mileage but seemingly in-shape drop-top cruiser? Or is that getting near Miata money, which is almost always the better choice?

You decide!

Nice Price or No Dice:

Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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