For young Mathew Hughes, there was nothing quite like the tutelage of elite custom car builder Simon Bonello to motivate him to turn his first car – this 1973 Toyota Celica GT – into an elite-level Summernats stunner. After all, his initial goals for the build were rather more modest.

First published in the April 2026 issue of Street Machine

“The original plan when I started the project in 2017 was just an engine conversion,” Matt says. “But working under Simon and seeing all the cars we were doing, it wasn’t surprising it rubbed off, and I just had to do a car like this.”

Matt’s love for Celicas originally came from his father. “He had a few TA22s, so it was ingrained in my DNA,” he says. “We got this one when I was 16 – just around the corner from where we lived – and I drove it around for three or four years as my daily.”

As a young apprentice painter, Matt tore the car down at home to begin the engine conversion. Things quickly got out of hand, and as he learnt more skills doing paint and panel at work, the Celica’s form began to evolve. “I learned how to do bodywork, too, so that was a challenge in and of itself, as I had not planned to do any of that myself when I started the build,” he says.

In fact, Matt drastically changed plenty on the Celica, while managing to keep it subtle to the untrained eye. All the external badging and trim was removed, the sills were extended, the firewall was recessed 50mm, and the entire engine bay and underside of the car were smoothed. The boot has been drastically renovated to suit the extensive fuel system, and Matt even built new rear strut towers to suit the rear Fortune Auto coil-overs.

“Every modification on this car was a hurdle,” Matt says. “Basically, nothing on this car fitted without modification or a custom bracket.”

Right at the start of the project, Matt decided the Celica would be powered by Toyota’s 2.0-litre, DOHC, 3S-GE BEAMS four-pot (commonly found in small Toyota Altezza sedans). “I get the whole V8 thing, but four-cylinders are just cooler to me, and it more fits the essence and feel of what this car is,” he says.

In factory form, the screaming BEAMS engines are good for just a smidge over 200hp. That wasn’t good enough for Matt, so the internals have been renovated with H-beam CP rods and high-compression CP pistons. The lightly tickled head houses a pair of Toda Racing bumpsticks with adjustable cam gears.

Matt’s neatest trick with the engine is the individual-throttlebody inlet system, controlled by MoTeC EFI, with a custom manifold made by Matt’s brother Aaron at OverTime Fabrication & Engineering. “We haven’t got it running yet, but on E85, it should make 300hp to the flywheel, so it’ll feel like a go-kart!” he says. “People ask why I didn’t go turbo; the truth is I didn’t want any ugly intercoolers or turbos – the ITBs look way better.”

Paired with the high-revving atmo four is the Altezza J160 six-speed manual transmission, sending grunt to a G-Series HiLux diff. “Even the gearbox shifter needed a custom mount to suit the German CAE billet short-shifter,” says Matt. “It’s just the way things were with this car.”

More neatness under the pristine skin included swapping out the outdated steering box for a AE86 Corolla rack-and-pinion set-up. That, combined with the Fortune Auto coil-overs and sticky Hankook Ventus rubber on the SSR Dori Dori Mesh wheels, means the Celica should corner as good as it looks, so it’ll make for one hell of a driver when Matt can finally hit the road in his creation.

“The plan is to do a few more shows, at least this year,” he says. “We’ll get it running but keep the undercarriage clean for MotorEx and the Rosehill Hot Rod & Custom show, then show it at the annual Toyotafest show and the Classic Celica Appreciation Day.”

The Celica debuted at Street Machine Summernats 38 – the culmination of nearly a decade of hard work and persistence for Matt, which made him quietly emotional. “Having Simon Bonello, Sebastian Desisto and Daniel Fenech there for both the unveiling and when I got the awards was incredible,” he says. “When I got the award for third in Top Standard Paint in front of Simon, I could’ve cried. He took me on as an apprentice, and Seb and Daniel taught me how to do panel, so to get that accolade for a car I painted myself was something I’ll never forget.” If that wasn’t enough, Matt also bagged third in Top Coupe and second in Top Engineered to land a spot in the Top 20 Elite.

Despite learning as he went throughout the entire build, Matt has no intention of pulling the Celica down and doing it all again. “As the car progressed, so did I, and it shows that,” he says. “I can’t stress how much this car is a proper garage build, and it’s a true extension of myself. I plan to drive it, and then when I’m done, I’ll park it up, scars and all, and it’ll be a reminder of where I’ve come from.”

MATHEW HUGHES
1973 TOYOTA CELICA TA22 GT

THANKS
My mum and dad; my brother Aaron at OverTime Fabrication & Engineering; Simon Bonello; Sebastian Desisto; Daniel Fenech; Matthew Trevena at MT Performance Engines; Justin at ProWire Performance Wiring; my boss Aaron at Fix Auto Macarthur; Darren at trimmed_by_darren; Chris at Glass Benders; JP Fabrications; Concourse Moulding Repairs & Polishing; Dillon at Inertia Race; Dean at 3DFX Engineering; Aleks at Al’s Pinstriping & Lettering; Michelle at Car Part Restorations; the Motorsport Connections team; Rob at Racebolts.