Street Machine Australia — June 2017

ALL THE KIDS AT SCHOOL HAD GEMINIS AND

COMMODORES, THAT SORT OF THING. THE

CELICA WAS DEFINITELY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

MAIN: Like many of the
mighty Fords that grace
these pages, Troy’s Celica
sports several GT badges –
and like those same Fords,
it’s a replica! The GT version
was never sold in Australia,
but Troy has fitted a GT
grille and badges to match
the GT engine, while the
stripe package is actually
a custom-made version

based on the earlier TA22.

“The TA22 scheme is just so

Japanese,” Troy explained

fondly. “But they’re actually

shorter than the RA23, so I

got these made”

1: The front and rear spoilers

were made by a guy in

Melbourne who builds repro

Toyota items; originals

are unobtanium. As for

the double-chin action up

front, Troy laughed: “Yeah,

that’s my own Frankenstein

creation – the Toyota

repro item with a second

one I built from a MkI Golf

spoiler!”

2: Hippari stretch tyres,

deep chin spoiler, fender

mirrors and extreme lowness

all point to Troy’s Celica

being in the JDM Shakotan

style, which literally means

‘low car’, but he is at pains

to point out this wasn’t

intentional. “I did this sort

of thing to Corollas and the

like back in the early 2000s;

now classic Japanese stuff is

getting more popular here.

It’s just what I like!”

ENGINE: Troy dumped the

Aussie-spec 18R-C SOHC for

the revvy 18R-G twin-cam

from a Celica GT. It’s grunty

and throaty, with a head

designed by Yamaha, and

the twin 40mm Solex carbs

make a sweet induction

noise when Troy blips the

throttle. Despite the lack of

hidden anything, it’s a pretty

clean bay

ORANGE CRUSH