1981 Toyota Celica Supra on BaT: The Supra Story Starts Here

• Once upon a time, the Supra was a trim level for the Celica.
• The breed started out with inline-six-cylinder power, chosen for its perfectly balanced smoothness rather than raw output.
• In this first-generation example, that six is backed up by a manual gearbox, and the car has just been treated to plenty of engine reconditioning.

A car that’s a Celica and a Supra? You bet: Long before Paul Walker hauled a wrecked Toyota over to Vin Diesel’s garage to be rebuilt as a drag-racing superweapon, the Supra was just a trim level for the Celica coupe. It wasn’t so much about speed, but about the refinement of six-cylinder power—a Celica, but a super version.

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This 1981 Toyota Celica Supra is gliding into view over at Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). The Celica Supra marks the start of the Supra legend and was a big grand tourer with polished manners. It also just happens to be a match for current Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first car, called the Celica XX in its home market. A Toyota good enough for Japan’s Margaret Thatcher? That’s an iron-block lady.

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The headline is, of course, the inline-six engine, here displacing 2.8 liters and producing 116 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. Not quite good enough for a 10-second-or-less quarter-mile lifestyle, but super-smooth power that can trace its heritage back to the Toyota 2000GT. It’s paired with a five-speed manual gearbox sending power to the rear wheels.

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The rest of the car is a long-nosed version of the second-generation Celica, which is to say Toyota’s take on the personal luxury coupe craze of the late 1970s. The interior features vinyl and cloth seating, air conditioning, and even a graphic equalizer for the cassette stereo.

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A few years later, the Celica would be a sporty front-driver, and the Supra its own nameplate, complete with available turbocharged power and arguably reaching its apogee with the twin-turbocharged fourth-generation Supra, as featured in The Fast and the Furious. But this is where that story started.

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As for the six-cylinder heart that gives this high-level Celica its Supra designation, that’s been comprehensively reworked, with new valve seals and head gaskets, replaced bearings, and a new muffler. It’s ready to hit the road.

The Supra’s currently on hiatus for now, with the Celica poised to make a return as a potential replacement for the rally-bred GR Corolla and (overseas) GR Yaris. Once, though, both legendary names occupied the same space.

The auction ends on October 28.

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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.

Source: www.caranddriver.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.