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[VIDEO] Souped-Up Toyota Celica is Wheely, Wheely Fast

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Toyota Celica loses wheel drag race

Most drag racing contests are littered with heavily-modded vehicles with one purpose in life: to be really, very, extremely fast. Take this 1975 Toyota Celica, for example, which was modified by the team at Speed Warehouse. The Celica’s stock engine has been replaced with a 2JZ from a fourth-generation Toyota Supra, boosting its power to a monstrous 1,000 horsepower. Take a look as the car loses a wheel when it takes off at the recent TX2K16 drag racing event in Texas:

The first few frames show that this Celica has what it takes to compete against the likes of the Chevy Camaro, Nissan GT-R, and Audi R8. But, at around the 3:40 mark, you can see in slow-motion exactly what happened to the wheel when this powerful car took off from the start line. Luckily for the Celica (and the driver), it was able to show exactly what it’s capable of before it lost its wheel and had to retire for the day.

This 1,000-hp Celica was able to speed through a quarter-mile in just 10.20 seconds, though it easily has the potential to reach the 9-second range if challenged (and if its wheel is more securely fixed).

The original Toyota Celica was designed to compete against the likes of the Ford Mustang and the Mazda RX-2. When it first came to the states in 1971, it was powered by a 1.9-liter 8R engine, but that motor was soon replaced by a 2.0-liter 18R-C that fit in better with upcoming emissions legislation in Japan and the US. The Celica proved to be a huge hit Stateside, and Toyota added a GT model to the lineup in 1974. The following year, 1975, saw the addition of the Celica Liftback and a longer wheelbase. The Celica had a long run, eventually being discontinued in 2004.

News Source: Auto Evolution