Toyota Celica 1600GT (1971)
Publication: Car Graphic
Format: Road Impressions
Date: January 1971
Author: Shotaro Kobayashi
Road testing the Toyota Celica 1600GT
The day after testing Toyota’s new Carina 1600ST, I had the opportunity to spend a little over three hours driving the Celica GT, so I’ll share my impressions while keeping them brief. The Celica is a sporty two-door hardtop that shares its floorpan, suspension, and powertrain with the Carina. Its aim is clearly to be the Japanese counterpart to the specialty cars that have found success in America with the Mustang, and in Europe with the Capri.
It features a smart long-nose, short-deck body shell, and Toyota’s idea is to enable users to create a semi–custom vehicle by combining four exterior variations, four engines, and no fewer than nine interior specifications. According to Toyota’s PR, this is all made possible by a computer system that allows such combinations to be produced with short lead times and delivered directly to the customer, though further explanation remains somewhat vague and airy.
In addition to the three engines shared with the Carina, the Celica lineup includes a GT model equipped with a unique DOHC 1588cc engine producing 115ps, paired with a 5-speed gearbox. The car tested here was a yellow GT fitted with a vinyl (leather-look) roof, an addition that completely spoils the otherwise beautiful lines, priced at 875,000 yen.
This engine is based on the 1588cc OHV unit used in the Carina/Celica, but is equipped with a chain-driven DOHC cylinder head (compression ratio, 9.8) and twin Solex 40 PHH carburetors, producing an output of 115ps at 6400rpm and 14.5kgm of torque at 5200rpm. The driveline is identical to that of the Carina 1600ST tested the previous day, with the same 5-speed gearbox and a 4.11 final drive. The tires, however, are one grade higher in speed rating: 165-HR13 radials (the test car was fitted with Bridgestone Radial 20s), mounted on 4.5J rims.
The driving position is very much like that of the Alfa GTV. You sit lower than in the Carina, yet forward visibility is no worse. The seats, with integrated headrests, use rubber diaphragm springs and urethane foam padding; they are thin but well shaped and comfortable. Only the GT is upholstered in a breathable woven vinyl fabric. The seat slides far back enough to allow a driver of 178cm to sit with both arms and legs comfortably extended. Despite the low overall height of just 1310mm, the rear seats are set low to ensure adequate headroom, and the backrests are angled so that two adults can ride for extended periods. If the driver is tall, however, the rear passengers’ knees will inevitably hit the front seatbacks.
With no time to even get familiar with the layout and operation of the various controls, we headed for the Tomei Expressway in a downpour that had begun at the worst possible time. At low speeds in city traffic, the true character of the 115ps DOHC engine is not apparent at all, but in terms of low-speed flexibility, it is in no way inferior to the Carina 1600ST with its 105ps OHV engine. The only notable difference in urban driving was that when the throttle was opened from idle, a brief crackling sound of detonation could be heard for an instant, something not experienced with the Carina 1600ST engine.
Making frequent use of third gear, which delivers strong acceleration even from below 40 km/h, we drove along Route 246 toward the Tomei. Although the Celica’s suspension differs little from that of the Carina, its front seating position lies closer to the pitching center, so that the car exhibits almost no apparent pitching motion and provides a very smooth ride. The test car was fitted with Bridgestone’s new Radial 20 tires, which are somewhat softer than the Radial 10 and relatively insensitive to surface irregularities. On the other hand, steering response was slightly sluggish compared to the Carina we had driven the day before. The steering wheel is wrapped in genuine leather, which is softer than the Carina’s vinyl covering and feels pleasant in the hands.
Once on the Tomei Expressway, accelerating in second and third gears up to 7000rpm–the beginning of the red zone–produced speedometer readings of 96km/h and approximately 140km/h, respectively. Up to around 6000rpm the engine feels little different from the OHV Carina, but the fact that it shows signs of continuing to climb even past 7500rpm is just what one would expect from a DOHC unit.
This engine also stands out for being especially satisfying to the driver among Toyota powerplants. Mechanical noise is low, vibration remains minimal even at 7000rpm, and while the exhaust note is bolder than the Carina’s, it only begins to resonate slightly within the body above 4000rpm and does not grow louder when revved beyond that.
Because we were only able to drive the GT briefly on public roads in heavy rain, we could not fully explore the DOHC engine’s capabilities. Even so, its stronger pull in the 4000–8000rpm high-speed range is clearly superior to that of the Carina’s 105ps OHV engine.
With 100km/h on the speedometer (which is quite optimistic; actual speed is approximately 95km/h), engine speed is about 3600rpm in fourth gear and 3100rpm in fifth gear, and in either case the car is remarkably quiet. Noise levels are essentially the same as the Carina’s, with the exhaust sound most audible and mechanical noise low.
The 5-speed gearbox, which uses the same ratios as the Carina’s, is also Alfa-like in that even at the relatively modest speed of 100km/h, any of the upper three gears can be used according to the driver’s mood. In other words, the top three ratios are quite closely spaced, and because the engine has good torque characteristics, there is a wide overlap between their usable ranges. For example, if one is not in a hurry, accelerating from 80km/h can be done without strain even in fifth gear; dropping down to third, of course, produces instantaneous response.
As we drove, the rain continued to intensify, and as the rear window fogged up we switched on the defogger. In about three minutes the condensation began to clear in horizontal bands roughly 3cm wide along the heating elements, and after five minutes the glass was completely clear. In a country where so many domestic cars have defoggers in name only, the Celica’s system is genuinely effective. As it was a cold day, we were also able to confirm the excellence of the heater-demister. Large vents on both sides of the dashboard make it possible to create the ideal condition of warming the feet with the heater while cooling the face with fresh air.
The windshield wipers, however, cannot keep up with the car’s performance; the blades begin to float up off the windshield at around 120km/h. A high-speed type with fins would clearly be preferable. At highway toll gates, two things were particularly bothersome: the painfully slow operation of the power windows, and the awkward position of the switches (on the side of the driver’s door), which are difficult to use unless one is accustomed to them. Personally, I would have preferred manual window cranks; after all, this isn’t such a large car that the passenger’s side is difficult to reach.
As for handling, I was not able to test the car anywhere near as thoroughly as I would have liked, but even from this brief experience it was clear that the Bridgestone Radial 20 165-HR13 tires provided excellent grip on wet surfaces. Even when applying power through tight second-gear corners, the rear wheels did not slide. Despite using a rigid rear axle, the Celica behaves exceptionally well under such adverse conditions by domestic standards (as does the Carina). One of the reasons its handling is on a par with that of top European sports saloons is undoubtedly the generously sized tires (for a car of this size and weight, 165-HR13 is the standard size in Europe, whereas domestic cars have traditionally been limited to 155-SR13s on 4J rims). There are many aspects of the Celica’s design which are commendable, but I want to give special praise to the designers for deliberately specifying a tire one size larger and one speed class higher than usual.
We’re looking forward to testing the Celica GT more comprehensively in the near future.
Postscript: Story Photos
