Toyota Celica GT-Four

Toyota Celica GT-Four Buyer's Guide (ST165, ST185, ST205)

Rally royalty you can still afford

If you want genuine rally heritage without the price of a GT-R or an Evo, the Celica GT-Four is the car I keep pointing people at. Every one of them runs the turbocharged 3S-GTE 2.0 litre four and full-time all-wheel drive, which was the whole reason it exists: a road car built to get Toyota's rally weapon onto the stages. Power climbed as the car matured, from somewhere around 185 PS in the earliest ST165 to about 225 PS in the ST185 and roughly 255 PS in the Japanese-market ST205, though quoted figures wander a bit by year and market so treat those as ballpark.

The heritage is the real deal. Carlos Sainz won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in an ST165 in 1990, then took a second in an ST185 in 1992. Toyota's ST185 kept the run going with Juha Kankkunen winning the drivers' crown in 1993 and Didier Auriol in 1994, plus the manufacturers' title in both of those seasons. For a while there the fastest thing on a special stage was a Celica, and you cannot say that about many two-litre coupes you can still go and buy.

The one to chase is the ST205 GT-Four WRC, the homologation special. Toyota built roughly 2,500 of them, most staying in Japan with smaller runs reaching Europe and Australia, purely to make the car legal for Group A rally. They came with the trick gear: a water-spray bar for the front intercooler, added cooling and insulation around the engine, a taller rear spoiler, and the plumbing for an anti-lag system that the factory left disconnected. If you buy an ST205, buy one with those parts intact, because a stripped example is worth a lot less and putting it right is a headache.

Then there is the story everyone tells at the pub. For 1995 the FIA capped Group A cars with a turbo air restrictor, and Toyota's engineers built a spring-loaded bypass that quietly opened under full throttle and fed the engine extra air, reckoned to be worth around 50 horsepower over the rivals. It was rumbled at the Catalunya round, and FIA boss Max Mosley called it the most sophisticated device he had seen in thirty years, which is a hell of a compliment for a cheat. Toyota lost its points and copped a ban that carried into 1996. Infamous, but it is a big part of why these cars have such a fan following.

What to check before you hand over money

Now the hard talk, because these are old cars. Rust is the killer, so check everywhere: strut towers, sills, boot floor, rear arches and under every bit of trim you can lift. The 3S-GTE has a history of head gasket trouble and overheating if it has been run hard or neglected, so you want a clean cooling system and no mayo under the oil cap. On an all-wheel-drive car that has been thrashed the drivetrain wears, so feel for driveline clunks and listen for centre diff or transfer whine on the test drive.

Last thing, and it catches people out: make sure you are actually buying a GT-Four. Plenty of tarted-up naturally aspirated Celicas get advertised as the real thing. A genuine GT-Four is turbo and all-wheel drive, so check the chassis code and confirm the drivetrain matches what the seller claims before any cash changes hands.