1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

Manual gearbox, right-hand drive and Factory Yellow...

Much famed for its motorsport successes, the Celica GT-Four won a total of 30 rallies in ST165, ST185, and ST205 guises. The 'homologation special' road cars were also successful, selling well in the UK, with the possible exception of the (1994-on) ST205 which had become a touch expensive over here. The model remained popular in Japan, however, where it was manufactured until 1999. Since then many Japanese versions have reached UK shores, with the ST205's curvaceous styling and rock-solid build quality ageing more gracefully than its cheaper rivals.

A standard car when new hit 60 in 5.9 seconds and topped out at around 153mph, but the gearing feels especially focused at 50-120mph, perhaps not surprising for a rally inspired car. Permanent four-wheel drive and those two clever diffs mean grip levels are always high, and unlike most other rally reps the Celica's steering lets you know exactly what's going on.

This exciting 1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205, is an 83,000kms (51,573m), right-hand drive, manual gearbox car finished in Factory Yellow and was recently imported from Japan. It has been fitted with a new clutch and a new battery. It's accompanied by an MOT certificate issued until May 2017, UK V5c, export and NOVA details, and its full Japanese service history translated into English. The vendor enthusiastically informs us that this car “drives really well, the turbo kicks in as it should, and it handles really well. As this is a Japanese model it produced 255bhp new versus 239hp for UK cars”.

The Celica GT-Four is rapidly becoming a pretty exclusive ride with residual values, one would imagine, set to rise in the future for the very best examples. Offered with no reserve, this car must be of consideration.