Toyota exec outs Celica return

AFTER an 18-year hiatus, confirmation of a resurrected Celica has come from Toyota head-office in Japan meaning another Toyota sports coupe is in the offing… and possibly even more than one.

Unusually, given the current environment, the new Toyota Celica it is likely to be petrol-powered and not use electric assistance.

A new trademark application for the legendary Celica name is already lodged with authorities in Japan.

The news emerged in a report from Japans’ Best Cars publication quoting Toyota chief technology officer, Hiroki Nakajima who, at the behest of Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said, “To be honest, there is no sign of it right now. However, there are many people within the company who are eagerly awaiting the Celica”.

When pressed, Nakajima-san added, “So, I wonder if it’s okay to say this in a public forum, but we’re doing the Celica”.

The revelation was, according to Best Car, made over the last weekend in November at the Toyota Stadium in the Aichi Prefecture as part of the 2024 Rally Japan festivities.

During the event, the outlet reported attendees asking questions mainly about Toyota’s plans for the next-generation GR86, specifically whether it would continue to have rear-wheel drive and whether it would be turbocharged or not.

The publication also said Gazoo Racing driver Kazuya Oshima took the microphone and said the development team is “currently working on various things”, adding fuel to rumours that the MR2 was also likely to return.

Toyota is in the process of developing a new family of small four-cylinder petrol engines with 1.5- and 2.0-litre displacements that may suit the Celica application.

The 2.0-litre unit – with up to 300kW – will be turbocharged whereas the 1.5-litre unit is expected to come with and without forced induction.

On top of this, Akio Toyoda has been channelling former World Rally Champion and Celica driver Juha Kankkunen when Celica talk arises.

“I’m not just saying this because we’re at a rally event, but Kankkunen is Mr Celica. He was champion four times in the Celica,” Toyoda-san is reported as saying.

“Now you can all have a think about why I’m using Kankkunen so much. See if you can guess!”

All this follows other strong rumours emanating from Toyoda who admitted in an interview back in October 2023 that “he had requested the higher-ups to revive the sports car”.

Celica hints have been circulating over the past 12 months culminating in the name Celica Mk 8 appearing on a whiteboard in a recent episode of Toyota’s Grip anime series that also mentioned the MR2 Mk 4, GR86 Mk 3, GR GT3 and a Lexus LFR.

Finally, last year, Toyota president Tsuneji Sato publicly announced his support for the return of the beloved nameplate.

But the elephant in the room is what does a new Celica mean for Toyota’s current rear-wheel drive sports coupe the GR86 – and whether the new Celica be front-wheel drive as it was in the mid- to later stages of its previous life.

Toyota insiders suggest the GR86 will live on for at least another generation likely with new power plants including those mentioned above replacing the 2.4-litre boxer four-cylinder unit sourced from Subaru.