1973 LT

Greg Hayes is the owner of this 73 TA22 he calls "Celia".

"Celia" is my second Celica. I sold my last one (a 74 LT) to raise the yen for this machine. First the story of the original beast.

I bought her for way too much from some old dude who knew nothing about cars. It had a 2.25" exhaust with extractors, a triple gauge set and ugly red mags. I added a SAAS wheel and Webber twin carb and drove it until I met Celia. She had ugly black steelies and was sitting covered on the front lawn of a place down the raod. I approached the owner for a closer look and after the cover was removed I offered to buy it. He told me that it wasn't going because it needed a new starter motor and being the kind chap that I am I offered to get it going regardless of whether he wanted to sell or not. My mate Curly and I set out one day after work with a new starter motor acquired from another mate and bolted it in. The old girl still wouldn't go. After hours of fiddling we discovered that the starter motor wasn't the problem in the first place and that an old coil from a Kingswood wagon did the trick and she started with a cloud of black smoke. I took her for a drive with grandpa lace up steering wheel cover and all. She drove like a lamington but went like a dream so I offered the man a deal he couldn't refuse. Sold the old red machine after ripping off the s/wheel and picked up a new machine.

Since then she has received a new coat of paint on the back and front panels to fix up the scratch marks left by the cover, a webber twin carb, new rotors up front, new shoes and cylinders in the back and a 2.25" exhaust and extractors with a single muffler. An immobiliser, steering wheel lock and big bucks alarm to protect the little one from the nasties. Plans are a motor of unknown description, wheels, suspension, steering etc. Stay tuned!!

Nice work Greg, thanx for the pics and good luck with the engine upgrade.