The early Celicas have a big following globally, and the RA28 is one of our favourites, colloquially known as the “mini Mustang” due to its styling similarities. This one here is currently for sale on Ebay Australia, with hours to run (but reserve not met). See it here.

Unfortunately, Australia only received the liftback several years after its initial launch in Japan. Thankfully, the Australian model was not subject to the same bumper-bar alterations as applied to many of these cars in the US, meaning the original well-proportioned Japanese bumpers maintained the sleek design, and indeed we think it’s one of the best looking Japanese classics of the 70s. For this reason among others, these early Celicas are on our ‘watch list’ of cars which could really shoot up in value over the coming decade.

On face value, this particular car appears to be a very original unit, with factory paint, engine and interior. The seller’s comments are limited, but suggest the rust is not too serious, and the dust suggests it’s probably been sitting in that shed for a while (better than it sitting out in the weather).

The liftbacks come up for sale quite often in the US, but less commonly in the UK and Australia, and we've observed reasonable price rises in those latter markets, particularly for restored or well modified examples. As mentioned above, however, we believe there is more to come.

We’d like to see this car go to a serious collector, who would keep it factory spec. At this stage, assuming the reserve price is close-by, it’s an absolute steal if you consider the future these classics could have. With only hours remaining for this auction, we may see some stronger bidding, and we will post the result up here as soon as it’s done.

UPDATE: Auction ended at $4,555 AUD, reserve not met. We'll probably see it back online again soon.