Team Celica Vancouver - History

Formed in late summer 2000, five new generation celica owners decided to meet up at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC to exchange ideas on one of the hottest new compact imports on the market, the 7th generation Toyota Celica. Present that evening was jACE, fLiPfRoG, Sleeka, HiroGT, and CelicaGarage (Vic). We all had big plans for how our club would grow, and how we would turn our stock GT and GTS celicas into something a little different than when we drove them off the Toyota lot.

After our first meet in August 2000, we spent the next few months spreading the word about our new Celica club. Flyers at local Toyota dealers, online messageboards, and word-of-mouth helped the local celica club grow to what it has become now. By the spring of 2001, we had a turnout of nearly twenty-five 7th generation celicas for our now annual Spring Meet, which was held at Spanish Banks. Both the team and many friendships grew, and by August 2001 we decided to have a summer BBQ at Porteau Cove with friends, family and of course lots of modified celis. In the summer of 2001, Victor's "Celica Garage" (www.celicagarage.com) rapidly became Team Celica Vancouver's online hangout where we got to know each other better, and had a place to exchange information about our cars, sell and look for car mods, and showcase our cars. Our club grew rapidly and a tight-knit team developed.

Currently, TC (Team Celica) has many members from all over the lower mainland including Victoria, Chilliwack, and even members from as far away as Seattle and Alberta have attended team meets. Both GT and GTS 7th generation Celicas make up the majority of our team, but we are proud to have a few previous generation Celicas that have recently joined our club. We are also proud to have both male and female celica drivers in our team, and ages ranging from 18 to 40+. Being a car club doesn’t mean we are ALL about cars…basketball, counterstrike, drive-in movie meets, BBQ's, and other activities make us different than your average car club. We do however take pride in our cars and can be spotted at import venues, such as Hot Import Nights, and of course on the track at Mission Raceway and local autocrossing events. We also meet up occasionally to work on our cars as a group, to lend ideas and expertise in car maintenance and modifications. There is now some talk of the possibility of an actual Celica "garage" opening in the near future.

Team Celica Vancouver is an anti-street racing organization and condemn street racing whenever possible on our messageboards. We lost a member to street racing last year, and found it extra difficult to swallow because he was the innocent and helpless passenger who believed what we preached on Celica Garage: "Take It To The Track". R.I.P Snowblower.

Team Celica recently took home second and third place trophies in "best toyota" category at Import Showoff at B.C. Place stadium June, 2002. TC can also be spotted at the upcoming import venue, "Importfest", November 2003.

So next time you see 50+ celicas comin' at you on the streets of Van-city, you know its Team Celica! And to the haters: we're not madatcha, we're just a group of guys with love for another import car…