The Queen, 2003 Toyota Celica GT-S

I knew exactly what I wanted - a 2003 up Celica GT-S with under 40,000 miles in mint condition. I always loved the Celica and had wanted one for several years. At the time, I had a 05 Corolla S under lease with a year left. Just for the hell out it, I called up a couple of dealers to see if they could get me out of it at a minor fee. Naturally, they wanted me to pay for the balance of the lease so I was about to wait it out then decided to call up one last place and they told me to come down to see what they could do.

So I drove there the next day and they evaluated my Corolla. Not only were they not going to penalize me, but they offered $1,000 off a another car if I turned it in. But I wanted a GT-S and under 40,000 miles on it, and they only had a Celica GT with 42,000, so I decided to just think it over and left.

A week had passed, and I was still deciding. I went online to their website to take a look at the pictures of it again. As I got to the Celica listing page, I noticed underneath the GT listing, was another new listing of a Celica, in the GT-S trim with 38,000 on it. What struck me the most was that for color it said "Solar Yellow." Color wasn't a factor, but I had never seen a yellow one before and immediately called up the dealer to see if it was still available. They said they just got it in that same day so I went down to see it.

When I arrived to the dealer, it was no where to be found. The GT was right out front, but no sign of the GT-S. I walked around the lot but had no luck. I went inside the dealer and found the sales guy who had helped me before. Naturally, he wanted to get info about me before anything else so I sat in there for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he finished and led me outside. He stopped in front of the GT and started going on about it until I cut him off and said I was here to see the Solar Yellow GT-S. He looked at me surprised, then went back in the dealership. I was beginning to think that there was an error with the listing until he came back with the keys. He led me to a lockup of cars way in the back, it was a 5 min walk.

We finally got to the lockup and walked in. It was still no where in sight. We walked another couple of mins to the very end of the lockup, and that's when I saw it. I must have stared at it for a while, but I knew right then, even without a test drive or car fax, that she was coming home with me. And she did, March 21, 2007.

NOW

Two years later, I love my Celica more than ever.

Spring, 2007 - soon after I got her

On the next page, you'll see how she came to be.