5k Flash: 1990 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo

The Toyota Celica was an affordable ‘sporty’ coupe from Toyota, and quite frankly a horrible car once it made the switch from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive when the fourth generation Celica debuted in 1986.  The only notable exception is the All-Trac turbo cars that combined all-wheel-drive with a turbocharged 4-banger to put some fun back into the 4 wheeled washing machines from the company founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937.  This 5th generation (T180)  1990 Toyota Celica All-Trac turbo is for sale in Hartford, CT for $5,900 via craigslist.

This T180 generation GT-Four All-Trac is powered by a transverse mounted turbocharged and intercooled 3S-GTE 2.0 liter inline 4 putting out 200 horsepower and 142 ft-lbs of torque into a 5spd manual transmission.  The low power output and prone to understeer All-Trac system made the Celica is less fun-to-drive alternative to AWD offerings from Mistubishi, Mazda & Subaru, but its handsome design and rock solid reliability trumped its competitors.

It is hard to tell the condition of the inside of this Celica, but expect some wear/tear on the steering wheel, shifter, and button surfaces.  Thankfully this Celica has cloth seats that look to have survived the years well and won’t need to be replaced/recovered like a leather version.

Bottom line: The All-Trac turbo offers a great alternative to other early ’90s Japanese car offerings and we would take it over any front-wheel-drive competition.  This one looks to be in decent shape and is offered at a fair price.

See another All-Trac for sale?  email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com