Hard to believe it's been eight model years since Toyota sold a new Celica in this country. If you're of a certain vintage, you remember Toyota Celica's being everywhere. The thinking man's, or woman's, Camaro/Firebird/Mustang as it were. While they lacked the grunt of American 2+2's, they made up for their lack of beans with a level of refinement and build quality that put "us" to shame.
Toyota's never built anything that was anything less than superb but like the world's best four head VCR, if the world isn't clamoring for it anymore, no matter how great it is, or was, no one's buying it. While the Toyota Celica was the best at what it was, the market for 2+2's and coupes in general, has all but dried up. Will it come back? Bought a VCR lately?
It's doubtful that market will reemerge. Why? Well, cars today, the most plebeian of sedans and even some sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, are fantastic performers. A track suit of a car, like this 2002 Celica, offers little more than styling to lure today's buyers. Why wear jogging clothes when a pair of jeans will suffice? To make it compelling to buyers, above and beyond the swoopy sheet metal, today's sports coupes must perform at a level significantly above and beyond what a Camry (for example) can provide. Otherwise, what's the point? These cars are a pain to live with as daily transportation. Hard to get into. Poor visibility. Limited to zero practicality. Even then, if said 2+2 could perform at that high level, do you you really need a car that can pull .92 g's on a skid pad when the family wagon can pull .85?
Back in the olden days, when Celica's were everywhere, 2+2's delivered a level of performance you couldn't get from ordinary family cars. You got to walk the walk along with talkin' that talk. And look good. I mean, real good.
There are several 2+2's available today and they offer a level of performance above and beyond ordinary cars. The new Ford Mustang GT, in particular, is absolutely spectacular. Ford sells about 70,000 Mustangs a year. Chevrolet pushes out about 80,000 of their tougher to drive Camaros (ironic). Chrysler moves 40,000 of their delicious Challengers. These are good but far from the great numbers of 2+2's that were sold 20 years ago.
Our teenage boys, those harbingers of all that's cool, think cars like this Celica fantastic looking. They swooned over our recent purchase of a 1996 Camaro, our "extra" family car. In its day, our Camaro could perform at levels far above what a Lumina could perform at. The Camaro is cramped, though, has a fairly stiff ride, is noisy, crude and is all but impossible to get in and out of without blowing out a disc. More often than not, of late, given a choice between going out in either our Tahoe or the Camaro, the boys will take the Tahoe leaving the Camaro in the garage.
Comfort 1. Cool, 0.
Comfort 1. Cool, 0.
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