Pfhew, took a while but here ya go:
COOL PROPERTY TOYOTA CELICA GT-FOUR
THE SWORD OF ‘EL MATADOR’
The Toyota Celica GT-Four owned by René van Meurs is rare. It's the ’Carlos Sainz’, a limited edition, on which the 1992 world rally car was based. Rally bred or not, René even made the car a bit more sporty under its skin.
Text Philip Hofman, photographs Fons Klappe
During the end of the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s Lancia dominates the world rally championship with their Delta Integrale. Subaru and Mitsubishi are only small players in the game at the time. In 1990 Toyota-driver Carlos Sainz beats the mighty Lancia. The Spanish ‘fighter’ wins the first rally championship for Toyota with his Celica GT-Four. In total, the Celica wins four drivers championships and two manufacturers titles, before the car suddenly disappears from the rally scene because of disqualification. That year the FIA caught Toyota cheating with the turbocharger. All gained world championship points were taken away and Toyota got banned from rallying for the following 12 months. Although the now 21-year-old René is only a little boy back then, the rally cars at that time impress him a lot while racing on the TV-screen. Immediately he decides to start saving money to buy such a rally monster one day.
It’s got the looks, but lacks of power
After getting his driver license, René for a second takes a look at the Honda Civic and VW Golf but immediately realizes that these too common traffic light-sprinters don’t float his boat. A Subaru Impreza, how about that? René: “Everybody’s got one when it comes to turbocharged four-wheel-driven cars from Japan. They aren’t exclusive anymore!” Therefore he breakes his piggy bank and buys himself a Celica ST182
Widebody. A car which has got the looks, but lacks of the power the turbocharged models have. Two years later René sells his coupe. He starts his search for the four-wheel-driven turbocharged model, the GT-Four. He’s especially interested in the limited edition; the ‘Carlos Sainz’. The chance of finding one isn’t big. To meet the WRC homologation rules, Toyota only built 5000 cars of this type. Only ten of them have been sold through the Dutch Toyota-importer. During his search, René checks out nine GT-Fours before finding his ‘Sainz’. The car got it’s license in 1993, had done 123.000 km and was maintained quite well. The original certificate of authenticity signed by ‘El Matador’ Carlos Sainz came with the car. The only problem the car had was a worn crankshaft seal. The inexperienced seller therefore only asks 6000 euro for the car. According to René that’s almost for free for a Carlos Sainz in this shape: “I might have been able to double the price and sell it the same day after some polishing”. He resists the seduction. Today he owns his dream car, number 2433 out of the limited 5000.
Power
Being a
product design student, René finds a cars appearance very important. “That’s what also got me interested in the Celica, the timeless looks. In my opinion, this is the best looking Celica ever built.” But he also likes power and functionality. That last part is clearly applied at the Carlos Sainz model according to him, because the 1992 world rally car was based on this model. For instance, the big air scoop on the bonnet has been replaced with a huge vent. That vent isn’t there for show, it had to release the extreme turbo-heat at the rally cars. René reckons the exterior of the rare Toyota should stay original, but he added some carefully selected technical modifications. Therefore he orders most parts directly from Japan. Among others he fitted a race clutch with lightweight flywheel and shock absorbers made by the Japanese company Tein, which are adjustable in height and damping stiffness. When the throttle body closes you hear a pitch from the
blow-off valve. René: “Sounds cool ey? The turbo isn’t stopped completely and thus spools faster after a shift.” That last part is ‘quite’ noticeable in the passenger seat. When René overtakes another car in third gear, the blower gives the Celica a hard push. Turbo lag isn’t noticeable either; the power is available very quickly again. A bit strange at least is the fact that the engine continues to run after René gets out of the car and locks the Celica. René: “Oh it’ll stop automatically, don’t worry!” Reason for that is the turbotimer, which prevents the turbo from cooling down too fast. That way the oil doesn’t ‘coke’ to the turbo shaft. René is proud and careful with his Celica Carlos Sainz. He uses the car mostly for weekend cruising. There however sometimes is a thought about the chances of winning a sprint from a newer rally cannon...
[Technical specifications table, no translation needed I guess
]
DID YOU KNOW...
That the Celica Turbo 4WD Carlos Sainz...
• ...has a different front bumper with bigger air intakes?
• ...has a lighter rear bumper and exhaust system?
• ...has slightly different tail lights and no fog lights up front?
• ...has a bonnet with a little scoop and a big vent instead of a big scoop?
• ...has a slightly shorter gear throw and thus can shift faster?
• ...has a water cooled instead of an air cooled intercooler?
• ...only produces 4 bhp more than the GT-Four but has a much flatter torque curve?
• ...has slightly changed suspension components?
• ...diverts the power with a viscous differential?
• ...from René can be seen on
www.turbocelica.nl?
Comments beneath the photographs (from left to right and top to bottom):
- The dashboard is very Toyota; very well put together, clean, but a bit boring.
- Not a lot of space under the bonnet.
- René: “My Celica ‘Carlos Sainz’ does turn heads!”
- The HKS
blow-off valve produces a nice pitch.
- 17 inch wheels by Rays Engineering wrapped with Toyo T1-R tires.
- From this GT-Four only 5000 examples were ever made.
- This little scoop is for cooling the cam belt.
- The ‘uber’-Toyota Celica just breathes aggression.
_________________
René - Carlos Sainz 2433•5000
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) washing and polishing the Sainz..
)
thank goodness your English is better than my Dutch 
