Classified ad of the week: Toyota Celica

This is not a Ford Mustang. What's that smashing noise coming from Toyota's design studio? It sounds like the system...

Yep, despite bearing the visual grammar of America's legendary pony car, this is actually a mighty clean 1977 RA28 Toyota Celica Liftback GT. And we're highlighting this ad partly as an excuse to link back to this story about Toyota re-entering Le Mans, but mostly because it's gorgeous.

Built during the model's first year of production, this is, as the seller describes, the ‘holy grail' of questionable Toyota coupes. Under the bonnet you'll find the largest version of the Toyota Celica R28 series engine - a whopping 2.0-litres - that breathes through two twin-barrel carburetors and whisks output up to 120hp, giving it a top speed of 120mph.

And in all of our long years, we've not seen a cleaner example outside a museum (shame about the horrid blue coolant hoses, though). It's had just three previous owners in the last 15 years, and it's only showing 63,000 miles on the clock. There's also air conditioning and a tape player - but that deliciously awful rear window louvre isn't included in the sale...

But it's not what you'd call cheap. It is what you'd call £17,995.

Click here for the ad

Any takers from the TopGear.commentariat? It'd make a great mule for driving to Le Mans...*

*Please note that it might not make a great mule for driving to Le Mans, and might actually break down expensively and explosively instead.