My almost 12 year old pride and joy.... Options

[jspec3SGE]

Hey all my name is Ryan and I found out about 6gc.net after searching through Phat_99CelicaGT's profile on another site. It looks like a really cool site and it is so nice to be surrounded by a lot of beautiful Celica's (the 6th gen Celica is the last body style that I like). So I have decided to stay for a while and share some pics (I hope this is the correct place to do this).

My first pride and joy was a Red Toyota Celica that I purchased new in late of '94. This story is going to show you the days that I smiled from ear to ear and also the times that I cried my eyes out while I owned her. Here she is right after I brought her home from the dealership....



She stayed pretty much stock for about 6 years and then I started to mod her a bit by doing a '99 front end conversion with the front emblem and license plate holes molded off. Also installed custom clear turn signals and clear parking lights....



Added Ground Control coilovers and struts to help give it a lower stance along with OEM Toyota Celica GT alloy wheels....



Installed a GReddy SP catback exhaust system which produced a nice low tone....





Then it was time to work on the interior. First was a custom dual gauge pod that housed Cyberdyne digital air/fuel and volt meter gauges. Second was a Kenwood flip out touchscreen DVD/CD/TV unit with added navigation for the driver and then a 6.5" lcd screen molded into the glove box for the passenger. Lastly I molded custom switches into the center console (can be seen right in front of the shifter)....









I then upgraded all interior speakers by adding 6.5" Rockford Fosgate component systems up front and 6.5" Rockford Fosgate coaxials in the rear. For the boom boom, I built a custom box that housed 4 Rockford Fosgate 10" HE2 subwoofers and powered all that with a Rockford Fosgate 1000 watt mono channel amp and dual Rockford Fosgate 1 farrod each capacitors....







I drove her around for a while loving everything that I had done and then one day the motor went kabluuee....



With the new motor installed, I decided it was time to work on the engine bay. Customized an AEM intake to work and powder coated it red to match the car. Also powder coated the valve cover and screwed on a TRD oil cap. Then came my favorite upgrade of all time....a rare discontinued 3 point TRD strut bar!!!!



I then started to move towards the performance side of modifying the car and added a OEM Carbon Fiber hood along with TRD style bucket racing seats. I also custom fabricated silver mesh grill for the front bumper. Here she is at the August 16/17, 2003 NOPI show after taking 1st place in the mild category....





(The 1st place results can be viewed here at the NOPI webpage)

The funny thing is when NOPI posted the pictures, they labeled my Celica as an Integra

(The picture NOPI took of my Celica can be seen here)

The other cool thing is my Celica was on the NOPI Tunervision Show that is featured on SpeedTV from that 2003 event. They do a scan of the first row of show cars and you can see a pretty red Celica. Sorry, not trying to brag, just very happy with getting on TV

-Ryan

This post has been edited by jspec3SGE: Jan 26, 2006 - 11:58 AM

[jspec3SGE]

Thanks for the welcome Tina and here comes the worst of it....

The vandalism and theft of my Celica was a while ago and yes the insurance did take care of everything. But then they turned around and dropped me because the claim was so high. Oh well!

Now it is time for the 3rd and final installment of "the life of my pride and joy!"

After changing insurance companies, I put the Celica back to the way it was before it was vandalized and tried to continue on with my life. The only major upgrade was to the alarm which now had every gadget known to man and was so loud now when it went off, that my nieghbors complained because it would wake them up also

I started to attend more smaller shows and was having a grand ole time until one night. I was hanging out with some friends about an hour from my house and finally decided to head home around 2 in the morning. I was at the stop sign right before this really curvy road called Joplin and something came over me.....I for some reason made myself lock and fully tighten down my 4 point harnesses and I continued on home. Then out of no where, three deer came across the road right in front of me on one of the tight turns and I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story....





















The deer smacked my rear driver side quarter panel which put me into a spin. I then ended up going backwards across the road into the woods where I hit a stump. This caused the car to flip over in a weird angle and landed on the roof. It then rolled back over onto its wheels and I came to a stop in the ditch on the other side of the road.

I know it is ugly but I came out with only a small nick on my knuckle and I can say that being fully strapped in with the 4 point harnesses is what saved my life. I don't know why it was not my time to go but I have lived my life to its fullest since that day. Yes, the Celica was totalled and my pride and joy went to the crushing yard along with all the dreams that I had for her.

Sorry to end the story on such a sad note but here is where it gets happy again. It was now time to get another car but I was not sure what to get. All my friends drove Honda's so I ended up buying a 1994 Red Civic Hatch and have had tons of fun with my new "pride and joy".

-Ryan