Minneapolis/St Louis Park Street Sighting: Toyota Celica Supra

There are some cars that have always tickled my fancy for whatever reason; maybe I like the way its name rolls off the tongue, or maybe I've grown up with it; like an assortment of my childhood favorites, the Toyota Celica and Toyota Supra have been two of my favorite cars. But, long before the two models were split into their respective model lines, there was a brief time what Toyota's sole sporting vehicle was simply called the "Celica Supra". To me, that's the car I think of when someone either mentions "Celica" or "Supra". And sadly, living in Minnesota, I don't really see very many of the 1980s ones that bear the designation, not to mention the earlier cars.













This is another car I sort of "stalked" if you will; I've seen it around the Uptown area quite a number of times, but alas, it was always driving. I brushed it off as one of those spottings that's great, but I'll never get a feature of it--ever. Fast forward nearly two years, and lo and behold, what did I see? At first I thought it was a different one, but nope--it's the same car I saw those two winters before, and it appears to still be in excellent condition--especially for a Minnesota vehicle.
The Celica--and Supra-- have always been icons for Toyota's performance. Ever since the 1970s, when the first Celica was introduced, the nameplate has always had sporting intentions; when the US Supra bowed in 1978, it was called Celica Supra for that very reason; it was intended to be a "super Celica" so to speak-- like the fabled Celica, but better. Unfortunately, because of Japan's rustproofing issues, quite a bit of these cars rusted out prematurely, making finding one today extremely difficult.
As this car is proof, there are still some gorgeous examples around, though very far and extremely few in between.
When I initially saw that this example had parked, I was.. my eyes I think came out of my head; this is probably-- scratch that. This is the nicest example Ive seen--ever. Finished in period brown with accompanying interior and stock wheels, this car looks like it went from April 1979 to April 2012 in a flash; not a scratch, and nary a dent to be seen, this beast was immaculate. And for a daily driver, being immaculate is fairly hard to do. I especially appreciate that not only is this car completely free of any blemishes (besides being owned by me), but the current owner has left it stock. And that means one of two things: either the owner is a die-hard car nut who loves his baby just the way it is, or he's a hipster who bought it because it was retro and would make him cool. I sincerely hope it's the former, because the latter have ruined enough common classic cars as it is.