Dad’s Collection: Washington State Project Cars
Ah, yes: the infamous “collection” post on craigslist, wherein a seller posts batch of cars and trucks for sale that may or may not have a few winners in the mix. This listing claims to be written on behalf of the author’s father who has assembled an assortment of vehicles that seemingly indicates a preference for old Toyotas. The prices aren’t exactly bargain basement level, but there’s likely some room to negotiate if you show up in person and try to make a package deal come together. The most desirable car in the stash is this 1976 Toyota Celica GT, listed here on craigslist in Newport, Washington.
Now, the seller is looking for $8,000 for the Celica, but that price includes the 1978 pickup shown above. Apparently, the original engine to the Celica now lives in the truck, the venerable 20R motor. What’s confusing is whether there’s a replacement engine in the Celica or if the engine bay in that vehicle is now empty. It’s interesting to consider that in the 1980s, it was more important to keep the truck running versus preserving the Celica, which has obviously become more collectible in the intervening years. Even with two vehicles. the asking price seems a bit strong, but the Celica could be worth at least negotiating for at a lower price if the seller is open to it.
One aspect of car culture I will never fully understand is the artwork choices on vintage vans. Now, don’t twist my words: I love a good mural, and am a huge fan of vanning culture. What I mean is I don’t understand some of the choices van owners made when choosing artwork for their rides. This is Exhibit A: a mural with Daisy Duck bringing a birthday cake to Huey, Dewie, and Louie, Donald Duck’s nephews. What does this have to do with anything? These are basically “bit characters” in the grand scheme of Disney folklore (source: I’m a father with young children who reads or watches something Disney-related every other day), so why dedicate an entire side of your van to them?
Anyway, the bigger attraction are the vintage Toyotas. In addition to the truck and the Celica, there’s also this liftback-style 1980 Corolla that the seller claims is suffering from a lack of fuel getting to the carburetor. He makes it sound as though there’s still some work to be done, but he’s not interested in working it any longer. Interestingly, this model is equipped with a Hemi-style 3TC engine which has a reputation for being bulletproof. In addition, this is one of the last rear-wheel drive Toyota two-doors and it looks downright sporting with a set of period-correct wheels and lowered suspension. The seller has listed this one and a wagon with the same engine for $6,000. Do you think it’s worth trying to negotiate for an individual car shown here for a lower price?
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Comments
Remember the Sesame Street song, oh come on, we all watched it with our kids, “One of these things just doesn’t belong here”, clearly an Asian thing going, then, WHAM, the Chevy shaggin’ wagon. I bet dad was a pretty hip guy. Pretty obvious, as the people that collected this stuff, are, um, well, moving on, this playing out all across the country, with poor results, I might add. They’ll “negotiate” all right, as the portable grinder guy is setting up shop.
This is or was all cool stuff IMO,Dad musta felt the same..
Eight grand for a vehicle that’s been sitting outside in Washington for who knows how long AND I get to put the correct engine back in it? Let me get my trailer lol. Seriously the seller has some big ones asking this kind of money for scrap vehicles. Thanks for the laugh on my Sunday morning.
It’s like he thinks they’re rusty Mopars.
Definitely listed with I don’t want to sell it price (I know what I got)
As the Incomparable Bette Davis once said…What a DUMP! 🤮 But then, one man’s trash may be another’s treasure? 🤑
They are worth about $20.00 each at the junkyard.
You guy’s familiar with JDM?
Parts on these cars are well sought after and expensive, not to mention rare.
Go ahead and buy the GT and truck for 8 large and see if you can make a dollar on the parts. Let us know how that goes lol.
Another ignorant comment from one who takes things out of context. Do some research and you will be surprised.
Thing is…these are not JDM vehicles. These vehicles this individual has for sale were sold here in the United States and intended for that purpose. Really nothing special about these cars. Parts are plenty in aftermarket sectors. As far as original OEM parts..yeah may need to be Sherlock to source those NOS parts if you want to go that route, but these are really not worth it.
JDM=Japanese
Domestic
Market
Just an FYI…cheers!
Perhaps the van served as a delivery vehicle for a business called “Daisy’s Bakery”?
Won’t get $400.00 out of all of them at the scrapyard, where they belong.
The Celica driver’s side window is 1/3 open in Spokane, WA, where the average rainfall is.… There is moss growing on the windshield frame and a hole big enough to put a finger through above the driver’s side rear wheel well. Hard pass!
Was the Dad’s goal, with his collection, to destroy the vehicles? Job well done sir.
Yep, yet another listing to scroll right past – as $800 is more than that Celica is worth, much less $8000?!
Collection, from what I see I’d call it a junk yard.
And the dog said Ruff! These may be worse than my rust collection.
This is typical PNW.
Relative with some property who just has cars scattered everywhere.
They will be not just rusty – but musty and full of mold. Slugs, rats, spiders and everything in between.
My grandpa had a place in Beavercreek – same deal, except TR7’s. And the occasional bus.
Wow awesome treasure! Best keep them for another 10 years and I’m sure you’ll double what you’re asking for them now! But make sure to keep them outside because the patina is not there yet for the highest resale value!
My 77 Celica GT with 265k miles on it in 1984 looked great and ran perfectly. Except for one small problem. Rust was already taking it’s share of the unibody frame rails. That was 40 years ago. There’s nothing left of that Celica’s structure.
Ha not popular cars and they need a lot, just like a parts ad that was way overpriced on Ebay it said not for the weak at heart. I got a chuckle