1stGenCelica.com

It's time I got around to this introduction business as I've been lurking a while and have made a few other posts.

My name is Nathan, I'm a fitter/machinist from Sydney, Australia. 29 years old.

When I was much younger, I had a 2TG powered KE30 Corolla which I'd converted from the original 3k motor myself. But I lost that to the gods of corrosion



Since then, I bought a 1995 Subaru Liberty (Legacy) wagon with low kms, and 1 owner, as I was doing a lot of road trips for mountain bike racing. I still use this as my daily driver, but I've since changed out ALL running gear, suspension, brakes etc etc. The only thing that is original on the car is the body and half of the interior.

Full album here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 3945c32111

I'm also a mad Ducati fan, and have a 1965 Ducati 250 Mach 1, and a 1995 900SS.





Now onto the good stuff...
I'd been after a liftback for some time, and the market for them here in Aus is pretty terrible. Guys are asking huuuge money for rough or modified cars. I wanted something clean original. I have a friend in Japan who works for Nengun, and he put me onto this car.

1975 RA25 GT2000 with an original 42,000kms showing on the clock.
It's all original except it has the USDM bumpers for some odd reason, and the airbox has been removed in favour of pod filters.

As it was advertised:







I pulled the trigger on it about a month ago, and am just waiting for import approval before loading it onto a boat destined for Sydney.

My friend in Japan has also sourced and installed a correct JDM rear bar for me, and I have the reflectors here ready to install in it.


In lieu of finding the correct JDM front bar before the car leaves Japan, I've purchased a fibreglass one which my friend will install before the car leaves. I'll have it wrapped in chrome vinyl when it arrives so it'll look legit enough until I can source a genuine bar.
My friend has already removed the USDM one for me and installed the correct JDM indicators.


Anyways, now you've heard my intro. There's a LOT of photo's in my facebook album here if you want to see more of the car: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... fe9b691e8f

There's also a youtube video (don't worry, the video title is a joke) which my friend posted up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RFibH1XfX8

Cheers,
Nathan
Sydney, Australia.

Great pick up !!! Nice to see something so mint and different on here! You'll have fun with it

Wow, fantastically original looking car, the interior looks extremely clean.
Wrapping the replica bumper in chrome is a great idea, should suffice nicely.
I would have always thought parts and cars would have been plentiful over there

Yeah there's a few AuDM RA28's around and 3 other RA25's from what I can gather. Cars for sale though is a different matter all together. I haven't seen any nice ones come up for sale in the last 12 months. The only ones I have seen have been modified, repainted, or in need of a full restoration, and all of those have been priced above $10k.

I wanted the top spec (GT2000) liftback and an original low low km car, and I was never going to find that locally.
The car I bought had been sitting at the dealers for at least 6 months and was priced very well, although I suspect the safety bumpers put a lot of people off it. But aside from the bumpers, it was exactly what I was looking for. After procrastinating for 3 months, I eventually pulled the trigger on it, and it's been waiting at my friends office in Japan while I've been sorting import approval and trying to source the correct bits for it.

As far as parts go, mine shares almost no body/interior parts with the AuDM car, so finding genuine parts is a challenge. I've been trawling Yahoo Auctions and eBay almost daily since purchasing the car 2 months ago, and have so far only found the rear bumper and reflectors. I still need a front bumper and the bumper filler panel which sits between the grill and bumper.

The search continues...

Octane wrote:Yeah there's a few AuDM RA28's around and 3 other RA25's from what I can gather. Cars for sale though is a different matter all together. I haven't seen any nice ones come up for sale in the last 12 months. The only ones I have seen have been modified, repainted, or in need of a full restoration, and all of those have been priced above $10k.

I wanted the top spec (GT2000) liftback and an original low low km car, and I was never going to find that locally.
The car I bought had been sitting at the dealers for at least 6 months and was priced very well, although I suspect the safety bumpers put a lot of people off it. But aside from the bumpers, it was exactly what I was looking for. After procrastinating for 3 months, I eventually pulled the trigger on it, and it's been waiting at my friends office in Japan while I've been sorting import approval and trying to source the correct bits for it.

As far as parts go, mine shares almost no body/interior parts with the AuDM car, so finding genuine parts is a challenge. I've been trawling Yahoo Auctions and eBay almost daily since purchasing the car 2 months ago, and have so far only found the rear bumper and reflectors. I still need a front bumper and the bumper filler panel which sits between the grill and bumper.

The search continues...

I'd be interested to know how much you had to spend to get that car. I also would understand if you did not want to share that info. As Celica's go,it is arguably the high watermark.

Neil

Id rather not say. The initial purchase price was very good value when compared to the local cars on offer, but I've spent a lot post-purchase on getting the car right, fees, shipping etc. Bringing anything into Australia is not a cheap exercise. My Mach 1 above was an import from Canada and was around the same purchase price, so I kind of knew what I was in for.

Octane wrote:Id rather not say. The initial purchase price was very good value when compared to the local cars on offer, but I've spent a lot post-purchase on getting the car right, fees, shipping etc. Bringing anything into Australia is not a cheap exercise. My Mach 1 above was an import from Canada and was around the same purchase price, so I kind of knew what I was in for.

whatever you paid it was worth it, that's a rare car and it's unlkely you'll lose money on it should you sell it (also unlikely)

Neil

Yeah I think of it as superannuation or a house deposit that I can enjoy in the meantime

Sourced a brand new, never mounted front bar for my car, and the import approval came through from Australian Customs today so I'm a very happy chappy!

Wow, that's beautiful!

Great pick!!! I wonder how you could find an unused original bumper. Anyway, these cars are getting more and more popular recently, I do believe that every penny you invest will pay back with high interest.
Congrat again!!!!!!!!!!

G'day , Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't this a TA25 because it has the TA22 dash pad and gauges and the engine is a 2T as well.

Sure looks like an 18rg to me, so it's an RA alright.

Neil

Yeah it's an 18RG. Chassis is also stamped RA25XXXX

So the difference between the RA25 and the TA25 is the engines? The TA had the 2t and the RA had the 18r. Now that I have typed it out it make sense now, engine code matches the model code