Tuesday, September 27, 2011

1974 Toyota Celica GT, Now a Faux Ferrari


The first generation if the Toyota Celica is somewhat of a cult hero here in Australia. Affordable, sporty-looking and well equipped at the time of its launch in the early 1970s, it proved a popular alternative to the heavier, thirstier American and Australian built offerings of the time.

Let’s put that aside for one moment and focus on our eBay entrant for today. It’s a 1974 Celica GT model that’s been the victim of one of the shoddier-looking Ferrari conversions featured on this site. It’s supposed to look like a 308 GTB, though at best it looks like a 400 that’s been severely shortened.

So, let’s see what the seller has to say about this thing, eh? Firstly, there’s this: “This is one of the first and original ferrinos. Not many around. Was built in Queensland and the body was supplied from Adelaide by creative body's. I have all paper work on the build and photos. Anything In the paper or magazines on the ferrino is also in the folder”. The latter scarily implies that someone at one of the major magazines or newspapers wasted perfectly good ink and paper writing about it.

Then there’s the usual, “Everyone will notice you but not for the reason’s you’re probably thinking off” stick that we’ve heard a hundred times before: “This is a rare chance to own a ferrari [sic] replica. If you want attention while you drive this is the car for you! Turns heads like nothing I've even driven”.

Unfortunately for all you would-be buyers (all six or seven of you, I suspect), this particular car has already been sold for the you-can’t-be-serious price of AU$4,050 (about the same in USD or €3,002).

Yes, someone actually paid money for the Celicarrari. You can check out our full gallery below and leave a comment if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

Story sources: eBay

PHOTO GALLERY