Fuelled by recent rumours about the rebirth of the Toyota Celica, BestCarWeb of Japan has released rendered images of what the rebirth Toyota Celica could look like.
As a spot of context for the rumours, WRC legend Jari-Matti Latvala entertained the crowd with a demonstration run in a classic Celica GT-Four ST165 during the Shinsiro Rally 2023 in Japan, including a taxi ride for Chairman Akio Toyoda, who is also a skilled rally driver known as Morizo.
When asked about his thoughts on the Celica, Akio expressed his desire for a car called Celica again, highlighting its historical significance in rallying.
While Akio Toyoda has delegated business decisions to President Koji Sato, he carefully chooses his words to avoid undermining Sato’s work. Sato, who owns a restored Toyota AE86, has also previously said that it is his dream to revive the Celica name.
Short of an official press statement to confirm the project, both Toyota leaders are undoubtedly working on bringing back the Celica.
It is worth noting that the revived Celica is unlikely to be powered by a conventional combustion engine. By the time it reaches the market, stringent Euro 7 emission regulations will make it challenging to sell such cars in Europe, a key market for rallying and sports cars. As such, the new Celica is expected to be a hybrid sports car.
While it remains unclear whether the next-generation Celica will be front-wheel drive or rear-/four-wheel drive, Akio’s mention of the ST165 GT-Four in the context of a rally race suggests it will likely be the latter.
Also read: It’s happening! Re-birth of Toyota Celica, Chairman Toyoda and CEO Sato dropped some clues
Source: The Toyota Celica is making a comeback, here’s what it could look like
