Toyota Celica revival gathers pace

The iconic Toyota Celica sports coupe is under serious consideration for a comeback.

According to report from Japan’s Best Car website, Toyota Motor Corporation’s newly-installed president Koji Sato is on the same page as his predecessor, Akio Toyoda, and wants to forge ahead with more high-performance hero cars – in particular the Celica.

Sato is quoted by the publication saying “I want to revive the Celica”.

The former head of Gazoo Racing (GR) and Lexus made the remarks at a recent round of the Japan Rally Championship and, while his comments by no means seal the deal, his predecessor and now TMC chairman Toyoda also expressed his desire to see the Celica revived.

“I feel like I want [a car called Celica] again. I wonder if the new president Sato will take over that trend?” Toyoda told the Japanese website back in March.

The Toyota Celica nameplate spanned seven generations between 1971 and 2006 and its strong pedigree and widespread recognition would provide the Japanese car-maker with another GR-branded performance coupe – and possibly an EV.

Toyota has promised to offer an electrified variant of every model in its range by the end of this decade, excluding its GR performance models.

According to Toyota insiders who spoke to Best Car, if the Celica project got the green light today it would almost certainly be a battery-electric vehicle, and this unofficial render from the Japanese outlet is presented is one possible design direction.

However, given the hugely positive responses to the designs of the latest Nissan Z and Toyota Supra, which will almost certainly become an EV if it’s replaced, it’s likely Toyota will look to the past to shape the future, adding retro design cues to please Celica fanboys and tragics.

Previous evidence confirming Toyota’s interest in rebooting the Celica surfaced a couple of years ago when the company filed patent applications for the Celica trademark in the US, while in Australia the Celica name is protected until 2026.

It’s unclear how Toyota would position a resurrected Celica in its portfolio, with logic suggesting it would slot in between the GR 86 (priced between $43,240 and $45,390) and GR Supra ($87,000-$97,000) coupes, but if it emerges as the Japanese giant’s break-out electric sports car it could come with big performance and a big price tag to match.

The last Toyota Celica sold in Australia almost 20 years ago was powered by a high-revving 140kW 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine available with a six-speed manual transmission.

Beyond the 86 and Supra sports cars, Toyota’s Gazoo Racing sub-brand offers a pair of hot hatches in the form of the GR Yaris and GR Corolla, but the company has made no secret of its desire to pump out more driver-centric vehicles this decade.

There has also been talk of a reborn Toyota MR2, not to mention a compact convertible to take on the Mazda MX-5, but nothing has been officially confirmed and the latest intel suggests the Celica is the front-runner to fulfil the brand’s ‘three brothers’ sports car strategy.

Whatever eventuates, one thing is clear – the new Toyota boss is just as keen on high-performance sports cars as his predecessor.

During an official speech at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon in January, Sato-san said “…we at Toyota love cars just as much as you do and want to preserve and protect the fun and joy of cars for the future.

“In order to achieve this, we will dedicate ourselves to the cause with purposeful passion and action.”

Watch this space.

Digital images: Best Car

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