Time for a new Toyota Celica?

Spyder7 website reports that Toyota is considering bring back the Celica. For those unfamiliar (or don't remember) with the Celica, it was essentially Toyota's foray into a 2-door lift back to compete with the likes of the Mustang. The back seats were a joke but they were still there. Then they made it longer, front wheel drive and it got uglier (IMO) although the later GT restored its aura. Final model year was 2006. Now Toyota might reintroduce it with the 2023 Prius 2.0L hybrid setup.

Partial translation:
"Hammerhead" adopted, Toyota "GR Celica" electrified and released... Get the latest expected CG!

The first generation "Celica" appeared in 1970, and in 2006, the final model, the seventh generation "T230", was discontinued. However, since Toyota continues to reapply for the "CELICA" trademark, expectations for its revival are increasing, and there are rumors that the successor model may be released under the "GR" brand.

Digital artist Theottle provided the expected CG. The front end adopts a "hammerhead" design inspired by the new "Prius", the sides are equipped with a flowing coupe hood, the suspension is equipped with red brake calipers, and a set of large diameter aluminum wheels.

At the rear, a distinctive trunk lid spoiler is installed, and the tail lights are connected by an LED light bar, which is now a mainstream design.

Although the powertrain cannot be determined, the current leading candidate is the use of the new Prius plug-in hybrid system, which is equipped with a 2.0-liter in-line 4-cylinder gasoline engine and an electric motor with a maximum output of 163ps, with a maximum output of 223ps. It is to demonstrate. This setup is FWD, but there is a possibility of an AWD layout if the electric motor arrangement is changed, which is rumored for the GR Celica.

The debut of the Celica successor model that is worrisome, but according to the latest information from the United States, it can be expected in the second half of 2024."

Article:
https://spyder7.com/article/2022/12/24/17117.html

 

Wow that must have been a heck of an upgrade from the Vega to the Celica! I had the sister car the Pontiac Astre which was a heck of a downgrade from the Buick Regal Turbo, but the insurance was much better.

 

Yep seen a few rumors around even as late as May, before this rumor, of the Celica coming back. Toyota has refiled the copyright for the name in 2017 and again in 2021, so any time now??? The car-moby.jp site had the expected powertrain to be the same as the GR Yaris, a 1.6L 3 cylinder Turbo.

Partial translation:
"Expected specs of GR Celica
Assuming the Celica is revived, it is likely that the platform will adopt the same "GA-C" as the Corolla series, as I mentioned at the beginning.

The powertrain is expected to be equipped with the same 1.6L 3-cylinder turbo "G16E-GTS" engine as GR Yaris and GR Corolla, combined with a 6-speed MT and sports 4WD system "GR-FOUR".

Higher power performance than the GR Corolla is given, and expectations are rising that the maximum output will be close to 320PS and the maximum torque will be close to 400Nm."

article:
「トヨタの4WDスポーツ」はやっぱりコレ！8代目GRセリカは見た目“も”速そう | ページ 2 / 2 | MOBY [モビー]

I believe now that the 2023 Prius and Crown have been released, they have a couple of hybrid powertrains they can choose from. Maybe they are reviving the Celica to gather all they learned from the BMW jointly developed GR Supra and the Subaru jointly developed GR86 to put their mark on a coupe with their own hybrid power plant. The questions is, which one? The NA 2.0L AWD hybrid power plant found in the 2023 Prius, which can almost beat the GR86 AT time of 6.9 secs or use Hybrid Max power plant found in the Crown, which can almost beat the 2.0L twin scroll turbo found in the GR Supra of 5.2 secs? An outlier would be the i-Force Max system which can drive the new 3 ton Tundra to GR86 MT time of 6.3 secs and it is RWD centric. Kinda doubt they'll be able to keep the weight under the original 1,390 kg (3,064 lbs) with either the Hybrid Max or i-Force Max.