One to Buy: 71,000km Grey Metallic 1992 Toyota Celica ST185 GT-Four Carlos Sainz Limited Edition
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Although Toyota released the heavily revised Celica ST185 in late 1989, the Japanese manufacturer continued to run its older ST165 in the World Rally Championship for another two seasons until an uprated version of the new model had been homologated during the second half of 1992.
Dubbed the GT-Four RC in Japan, the Turbo 4WD Carlos Sainz Limited Edition in Europe and the Turbo 4WD Group A in Australia and New Zealand, like the ST165 version, this further enhanced ST185 most notably featured a water-to-air as opposed to air-to-air intercooler which offered more reliable performance in competition.
In line with homologation requirements, a combined 5000 copies of the RC / Carlos Sainz Limited Edition / Group A were manufactured. Production took place between August 1991 and February 1992.
As expected, the new Celica proved itself a formidable competitor in the WRC: Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol delivered a hat-trick of Drivers’ crowns in 1992, ‘93 and ‘94 respectively while Toyota also bagged the Manufacturers’ titles in 1993 and ‘94.
As opposed to contemporary homologation specials from the likes of Lancia (Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione) and Ford (Escort RS Cosworth), very few copies of the Celica GT-Four RC / Turbo 4WD Carlos Sainz Limited Edition / Turbo 4WD Group A have been preserved in collector grade condition.
However, currently on offer at the FS Automobiles showroom in Prior Velho, Portugal, is a superb, low mileage example configured in Grey Metallic paint.
Originally delivered via official Toyota agency Autocom Srl in Palermo, Sicily, this is number 3751 of the 5000-strong batch of cars assembled and has covered just 71,000km from new.
It is accompanied by the original book pack and remains in immaculate, 100% original condition. Included in the sale are the original Toyota cassette player, numbered certificate of authenticity and the factory-supplied cover with the car's embroidered serial number.
The last service was performed in Turbigo, Milan, during August 2020 when the engine underwent a complete overhaul which included replacement of the timing belt. The car was subsequently exported to Lisbon, Portugal, in 2021.
