The rumours are true, Toyota is bringing back the Celica.
Toyota’s Vice President, Yuki Nakajima, said the iconic sports car will make a triumphant return, according to Japanese publication, Best Car.
“We're making the Celica!,” said Nakajima.
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"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. So… I wonder if it's okay to say this in a public forum, but we're doing the Celica!"
Toyota Australia recently lodged a new trademark for the Celica name Down Under, which adds weight to the sports car's local revival.
Speculation has been rife for several years now about the return of the Celica.
It is believed to house a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine paired with hybrid power under the bonnet. Rumours put this combination as capable of 300kW.
Toyota has already announced it is developing a range of new four-cylinder engines — 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre turbo units — that work better with high levels of electrification, so this set-up is a distinct possibility.
It isn’t the only sports car rumoured to be in the works at Toyota.
An official Toyota Anime series, Grip, has hinted at the next-generation icons with plans for the Supra Mk6, Celica Mk 8, MR2 Mk4, GR86 Mk3 and GR GT3 hidden in plain sight in the most recent episode.
The GT3 car has been shown in concept form and the road going version was spied testing at the Nurburgring recently in the form of the Lexus LF-R, and a next-gen 86 and Supra are likely to follow.
The next-gen GR86 is expected to get the 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine from the current Yaris GR paired with hybrid help. This is expected to deliver more than 200kW and lower fuel use.
The MR2 has been thought of as a new electric sports car, potentially previewed by the FT-Se concept at the 2023 Tokyo motor show.
It is expected to reach production in 2027 using Toyota's next-gen 'square cell' performance batteries.
The company is also working on solid state batteries that are lighter, smaller, more energy dense, faster charging and less prone to fire than current cells and has earmarked 2028 for the first application to a production car.
Solid state batteries are thought to be the answer to making electric sports cars, utes and four-wheel drives feasible.
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