My Cross Country Celica

I found this Celica in one of the online ads. I bought it from a guy living in Taguig. The registration papers stated that it is a 1972 TA22 Celica, but obviously, this looks more like a 1976 Celica TA23 ST. I got it cheap, since the original 2T engine had already been replaced by a 4k one. Had the papers registered in my name. Chassis code is still using TA22 (can anyone explain this), so LTO registered it as a TA22.

My family (wife, two kids, and a nanny) rode her all the way from Makati to Cebu, a journey of more than 800 kilometers. Here's the long journey home, in pictures:

When I first acquired her:

Added fiberglass chin and fenders from toycoolrolla:

April 3, 2009: The start of the long cross-country journey. Cebu is around 900 kilometers from Manila. To get there, you need to travel by land for 650 kilometers, take a one-hour ferry in Sorsogon to Allen Samar, then travel again for around 150 kilometers to Leyte, cross the San Juanico Bridge (the longest bridge in the Philippines) to Tacloban, then another 100 kilometers to Palompon, Leyte, before finally riding a two hour ferry boat to Bogo, Cebu.

Stopover in Quezon, by the Lopez bay:

Unscheduled stopover in Naga, to have the pipes in the muffler welded. The pipe suffered quite a beating from the bad roads around Quezon National Park. We did not use the good roads of the park itself, but chose the safer but bad road around it. The condition of the pipes was further agravated by the detours in Camarines, where the bridges are under repair.

 Finally, Sorsogon Port. Here, you have to deal with fixers. Paid P960 pesos for the car and myself (the amount includes already the fare for the driver), a P12 terminal fee, and another P100++ fee for I don't know what.

Stopover in Allen Samar, after the one-hour ferry ride.

The bad roads of Samar.

Catbalogan Samar City Hall as seen from my celica:

Leyte Side of San Juanico Bridge:

Spent P1,700 for the ferry ride from Palompon to Cebu.

I spent a total P2,200 pesos on gas. Along the way, suffered three flat tires, a broken muffler pipe, and a tune-up. But the engine is a true workhorse, and never failed in her long journey Computed gas mileage to be around 13km/L. Not bad at all.

Next plans: a road trip from Cebu to Leyte, then Tandag, Surigao in Mindanao Island, completing the three island leg of Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao.