It is 1998 and the Celica is clinging to life. The MR2 and Supra have been withdrawn to Japanese shores and the Celica is on life support. Rumors have the Celica disappearing from the Toyota lineup entirely. In an attempt to recapture a Honda dominated market, Toyota revamps their Celica line which targets the extreme, young, and racy... the performance minded market.

The first the public sees of the new exciting Celica comes in the form of the Toyota XYR concept at the Detroit International Auto show in 1999 and with rave reviews, Toyota almost immediately begins production for a release later that year.

Since that time, the Toyota Celica has been a favorite in the custom import community and to see a Celica is to understand why. The 7th generation Celica seems to be doing 100 mph just sitting there, with its forward design it is motion with out actual movement! Now, add some after market body kits and you will really have a sport car in motion.

Daniel Wolfard of Hendersonville, Tennessee had a vision of owning a slick import, so when he had the Benjamins he purchased a 2001 Toyota Celica and then turned the keys over to Mike Jones and J.R. Skivers of Show and Go Custom, located in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Now, by no means is the car before your eyes a finished project, but are they ever?

The first step was to rid the outside of its former self which included shaving the door handles and rear wiper. The stock antenna was shaved and swapped out for a frenched in Honda S2000 version. The stock headlights were ok, but it was time to make this Celica stand out like a sore thumb, so J.R. shaved the stock lighting and swapped them out for a set of hand made projector beam headlights that were molded into place. Underneath the nose, a matching set of projector beam fog lights were also installed.

Continuing in the modification department, the gas door was shaved and replaced with a smaller motorcycle push-in version which practically disappears from sight. The factory fenders were widened and vented to give the body a wider more beefy effect. In true Speed Racer fashion, a modified VeilSide body kit was molded in for an overall ground huggin' effect.

The body was then smoothed to perfection in order to get it ready for the paint booth. To keep the car in a class by itself, Daniel had decided that he wanted a cool chameleon paint job. So, J.R. readied the paint gun and covered the body in House of Color Chrome Illusions paint.

With the paint applied, the majority of the body mods were complete, but a few more things were needed to round out the body lines. For starters, the stock mirrors were just not going to work with the current body lines, so they were trashed for a set of ADR carbon fiber mirrors. Of course no street racin' import would be complete without a wing that is symbolic of speed and forward motion. So, an Aerospeed carbon fiber wing was bolted onto the rear. Finishing off the body mods is a bolt on VIS Type 6 Invader carbon fiber hood.

Under the hood the changes are very subtle until future plans are put in motion. To help the engine receive the needed cool air, an AEM air intake was installed along with a set of twin Aerospeed carbon fiber titanium tip mufflers.

The suspension on the seventh generation Toyota Celica is not bad, but the gang at Show and Go Custom decided it could be better by doing a simple coil swap out. Aerospeed adjustable coilovers were installed to help to keep the wheels on the road during those tight turns.

Providing the traction on the highway, is a set of 19 inch Motegi DPK wheels wrapped in 225/35/19 Nitto SSS Extreme rubber. The wheel centers were painted to match the exterior body color.

The interior of the car was left alone, for the time being, other than a carbon fiber dash trim kit. As stated earlier, this car is not finished, so we asked what future plans lay in store for this street racer. Apparently the future for this car is nothing less than shining bright with plans to install Lamborghini styled hinges so that the doors open up. In the not so distant future, a high performance engine swap or stock engine turbo upgrade with nitrous is in the works. The interior will also have a serious makeover with a full audio/video upgrade.

There is no doubt that Daniel’s ride is becoming one hot import that we are going to have to keep an eye on. With such a well tuned vision, we can see that this ride is one for the record books!