TOYOTA'S new sleeker Celica glides into the new Millennium with the most striking looks yet from the Japanese car maker. The company first started selling the Celica in the UK in 1971, when trouser bottoms were wide, T Rex stalked the hit parade and car stylists gazed Stateside for inspiration.
The Celica 1600 ST then cost a little over £1,300. Twenty eight years on the price has gone up a bit, with the seventh generation of the striking sports coup an altogether more refined and sophisticated contender.
Six generations, two World Rally Championships and more than 81,000 UK sales later, the seventh version of the car replaces the 'muscle car' approach of the past with a stunning, light and nimble to drive car which is also economical to own.
Power comes from a new all-aluminium, 1.8-litre, 16-valve twin overhead camshaft engine, developing 140 horsepower - roughly the same power to weight ratio as the classic Ford Capri 2.8-litre V6.
The 127mph Celica is available in just one specification grade, offering air-conditioning, a single disc Sony CD player with RDS radio cassette and six speakers, power windows, 16-inch alloy wheels and front fog lights. On the road price is £19,255. The UK sports car market has been growing in recent years and in 1998 sales amounted to more than 68,000. The UK is the biggest European market for the Celica accounting for nearly half of total European Celica sales in 1998.
The market splits into two distinct groups - coups/convertibles and two seaters. Coups account for around 55 per cent of total sports car sales in the UK.
The new Celica enters a sector currently dominated by Ford with its Puma and Cougar coups achieving 25 per cent of total sports car sales and almost half of total coup sales.
Other significant players in the coup sector include the Hyundai Coup, Vauxhall Tigra, Fiat Coup and Honda Prelude. In addition, two larger coups based on saloon cars - the BMW 3-series and Peugeot 406 - are priced at the premium end of the sector. Toyota sees the 2.0-litre 16-valve Ford Cougar, 2.0-litre 16-valve Hyundai Coup SE, Fiat Coup 2.0-litre 20-valve and Honda Prelude 2.0i as the new Celica's primary competitors.
The highest proportion of coup sales in the last 12 months have fallen into the £20,000-£22,000 category.
This category includes sales of the out-going sixth generation Toyota Celica, the Ford Cougar, Fiat Coup and Honda Prelude.
Sales volumes in the lower price bands are dominated by the Hyundai Coup, Ford Puma and Vauxhall Tigra.
Premium versions of the current Celica GT, Cougar and Fiat Coup fall into the higher price bands, together with the BMW 3-series and Peugeot 406 coups. Manual gearboxes account for 85 per cent of coup sector sales.
Standard safety equipment on the Celica includes anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, twin front and front seat side airbags, remote central locking, alarm and engine immobiliser and double locking anti-theft door mechanisms. Force limiters and pretensioners are fitted to the front seatbelts.
UK buyers can also choose a new Celica with a £1,500 premium pack, taking the price of the car to £20,755 on the road. The Premium Pack includes an electric tilt and slide glass sunroof with sun shade and anti-trap function, leather front seats and a more sophisticated, automatic climate control air-conditioning system.
In addition, special factory-fitted 17-inch alloy wheels are available together with a rear spoiler for £1,200 extra. These wheels come with slightly lower-profile tyres.
Toyota is forecasting it will sell about 420 new Celicas this year and increase sales to 4,000 in the year 2000.
Fleet sales in the coup sector account for almost half of registrations. Toyota says the new Celica offers a higher specification than the previous model plus lower running costs over a typical three year/60,000 mile contract and is consequently likely to be a popular fleet purchase.
AUTOFACTS
Toyota Celica
Price: £19,255 on the road
Fuel consumption
Urban: 27.4 mpg
Extra urban: 45.6 mpg
Combined: 36.7 mpg
Length: 171.5 in
Width: 68.3 in
Top speed: 127 mph
Luggage capacity: 11.3 cu ft
Fuel tank capacity: 12.1 gallons
Story date: Wednesday 08 December
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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