Oscar Siguenza grew up a Honda guy, but he always fancied something a bit more special to treat as a life project. Something he could mold into an automotive magnum opus of sorts. He found it—1972 Toyota Celica ST—within his own family.
“My brother and I came to America from El Salvador poor, man,” Oscar reflects. “We didn’t have none of this. My dad had never even driven a car, let alone have anything like this. So, when my brother and I did get into cars, I wanted something that I could build up and eventually pass down. Start that legacy.”
Though it looked nothing special, his older brother’s ’72 Celica ensnared him. It was the often-forgotten first generation, produced between 1970 and 1977, when Celicas were carbureted, rear-wheel drive with a live axle, and styled like they could have been stand-ins in the original Gone In 60 Seconds. They were sold globally but primarily designed for the North American market as an alternative to our pony cars, preceding many Radwood-era favorites like the Celica Supra, MR-2, and AE86 Corolla. Their mechanicals also predated Toyota’s A Series inline-four engines and most variants of the M Series straight-six. They existed long before terms like “JZ” or “GT-Four” were ever a thought.
And yet, the old Celica was always around. Languishing in his brother’s care, it beckoned for a new life just as Siguenza clamored for a new driving experience, so he eventually seized it as a birthday gift to himself after two years of salivating over it and finally throwing the right dollar amount his brother’s way.
He hated it at first. It was crusty, slow, and desperately in need of a few doctors’ visits. In his brother’s care it had been a junker that he’d had little time to restore. Siguenza knew there was greatness to it, however, a classic pedigree nestled beneath its faded red exterior. He just had to extract it. And so began a decade-long makeover, prolonged mainly by a lack of available parts.
“There were many times I almost gave up on this thing,” Siguenza says, rubbing his brow as he recounts every hiccup and roadblock. “Mainly because of the engine—and that there are just no parts. Everything took forever on this car. You wouldn’t believe where you’d have to look to find stuff. There were two periods when I actually drove this car. Once, when my brother first got it, and now that it’s all put together. That’s 10 years of it not being driven, because it was always in pieces.”
The 14-inch Hayashi Techno Phantom wheels took Siguenzaseven years to find in the perfect spec, coming off a drifter’s Fairlady Z in Japan, and they weren’t even complete. They were without center caps, which Siguenza sourced separately from Russia. The front bumper is from Florida, but its brackets are from Utah, since the bumper came from an incompatible year. The C-pillar vent trim is from Greece, and the mirrors are from Egypt. The period-correct Recaros are from yet another Fairlady in Japan and took over a year to reach him in Nevada , which thrilled him, because he thought the seller simply took his money and ghosted him.
“The interior upholstery was done by an old-timer in his backyard who was always in and out of his doctor’s, so that ‘three-month job’ actually took over a year.”
Building the engine, an 18R-G 2.0-liter inline-four from the Japanese-spec Celica GT, was a project in itself. It was the high-performance option and a popular race motor in its day, but they’re all carbureted, which Siguenza opted against for drivability in Las Vegas, where vapor locking is a common ailment on old cars.
Fuel injection was the answer, but Siguenza also sought to preserve some semblance of a period-correct feel as best he could, when it seemed like every other first-gen Celica owner was swapping in 3S-GE “BEAMS” four-bangers and 1UZ-FE V-8s from newer Toyotas. His was a tightrope act to keep the Celica unique but reliable while still feeling of-the-era.
Siguenza had the 18R-G massaged by a classic Toyota specialist who collaborated with the local drift community for their custom fabricating expertise, which spawned a Frankenstein motor with unlikely transplants. Now affixed to it are 90-mm BMW V-8 throttle bodies, GM LS3 coils, a Jeep Wrangler trigger wheel, a Civic Si fuel pump, a Cressida intake manifold, and a 350 Z drive-by-wire system. A Haltech Elite 1500 stand-alone ECU reigns over them all. If it fits, it sits!
The Celica sputters to life without complaint, even after weeks of downtime. It gives no back sass, leisurely cruising through suburbs and side streets toward the asphalt ribbons near Red Rock Canyon. Traffic is a breeze, the coilover suspension is firm but never harsh, and when wide-open throttle comes, it feels like distilled magic dispensed at the press of a pedal. The whole experience is an unexpectedly spectacular dose of sensory overload.
The modified 18R-G is smooth and willing, eagerly sprinting to its peak, which Siguenza guesstimates to be around 7000 rpm. Despite a bad piston ring causing it to burn oil, it still measured 180 wheel horsepower at the engine builder’s dyno, which is plenty for slingshotting this 2600-pound flea out of corners.
It’s a hellaciously sonorous motor, too, even without carbs. Any throttle input queues a guttural intake howl and burbling exhaust like race motors of old, evocative of 4A-GE engines from AE86 Corollas. In this application, however, there’s so much more power. The clutch is a sweetheart in slow and brisk driving, while the five-speed manual’s long throws reward you with assuring detents for each gear.
Siguenza’s Celica almost feels complete. Almost. The lackadaisical brakes could use work, as could the non-assisted steering, which builds weight in a pleasantly natural manner that only manual racks can, but that’s only after wading through semitruck levels of on-center slop. Siguenza already has those items on a to-do list as the final gremlins to expel, so the rest of the car can be as engaging as that addictive engine. All in due time.
Oscar Siguenza is in no rush, however, and frankly, he shouldn’t be. This Celica’s final polish will come, so what’s another few months of lazy braking and numb steering, a few more smoke plumes from the exhaust? It has already taken a decade to kick his magnum opus out of the garage and onto the open road. Now, fully sorted or not, he’ll probably never stop driving it, not after all the passion he has poured into chasing this dream and forging a legacy he can pass down.
This is an example of how some cars today are ever so difficult to restore due to lack of parts and the cost to make them.
When choosing the project plan ahead if you are willing to pay up for the parts if you need them for a car you really wanto or choose a car with better part options.
Nice Celica . That gr86 wing is ridiculous on a stock car though . Can they go fast enough to access the down force 🤣🤣