The latest reports claim that Toyota and Subaru's on/off again jointly developed sports car is back on. According to L'Automobile Toyota is going to revive the Celica name for the Toyota version of the coupe.
L'Automobile claims that Thierry Dombreval, Toyota's VP of sales and marketing in France released the details on the name of the new coupe. No other source has released any details, so we'll have to wait and see if Toyota is actually going to revive the Celica.
Full Story: L'Automobile via Autoblog
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Comments (15)
Makes sense for a name, but it sure must be a slow news day, and what's with the Thundercat-esq cartoon of the car, no computers to make a nice rendering in Japan?
Posted by thetruth | March 23, 2009 11:54 AM
Posted on March 23, 2009 11:54
"The Thundercats are on the trail, the Thundercats are loose..."
A Celica with RWD would be awesome. Let's just hope they stick to the game plan and stuff a real powerplant in there. Maybe we'll even see a revival of the Celica All-trac. Maybe a Celica All-trac Thundercats edition...
Thundercats.... HOOOOOOOOO!!
Posted by Ravicai | March 23, 2009 12:20 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 12:20
This is getting as bad as all the Camaro articles. Jeez, make up your stupid minds!! Call it a Celaru!
I owned a '79 Celica. Hopefully, they will build them better with a head gasket that doesn't fail and an interior that does not crumble.
Posted by sparky | March 23, 2009 2:38 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 14:38
This story is going to be fun to watch as it develops :-)
Nice A.M looking car...
Posted by Bradford | March 23, 2009 3:55 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 15:55
It looks like a mix between an Aston Martin and a RX-8
Posted by yumyum | March 23, 2009 4:15 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 16:15
although i know cars don't turn out the way the artistic images are rendered... this is one good looking car. it's certainly 1000% better than the most recent celica... that thing is just plain fugly.
Posted by anon | March 23, 2009 7:41 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 19:41
Awwww yea!!!
Posted by vtfo0lio | March 23, 2009 8:19 PM
Posted on March 23, 2009 20:19
Yep, my 79 celica had clutch and water pump issues and a poor quality interior as well!
Posted by harryo | March 24, 2009 8:57 AM
Posted on March 24, 2009 08:57
Please tell me that's an intercooler and not a nasty front grille....
Posted by mbw | March 24, 2009 9:09 AM
Posted on March 24, 2009 09:09
I had a '91 Celica coupe that was built like a tank. When I sold it, it had 185k and was flooded to the dashboard, yet still ran as strong as ever. It's paint was faded and had a butt ugly body, but never failed me.
Posted by Erik | March 24, 2009 1:22 PM
Posted on March 24, 2009 13:22
@Erik
Ya, except for the repair/fix of the head gasket and some other key mechanical issues, it didn't leave me stuck on the road between repairs either. The Celica's interior faded horribly from the sun but i remember spray painting the pieces back to black and putting on seat covers so it didn't look so rough. But, most Toyota and foreign cars back then were junky, none could compare to even the Kia today.
Posted by sparky | March 24, 2009 7:25 PM
Posted on March 24, 2009 19:25
If this does revive the Celica name, Toyota should release a shortened and lightened version called the Levin or Trueno. And stuff a high RPM Valvematic engine in there.
Either way, I hope this car uses a scooby manual transmission. I'd love to see a 3UR stuffed in this thing. Although, I guess only the 6 speed STI trans could handle the torque, and then the car would probably come with the STI engine anyways.... ah well, hopefully it's cheaper than an Impreza.
Posted by Actius | March 25, 2009 9:10 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 09:10
I want to see a turbo engine in there. Give us something atleast 2.5L in size though, it's probably going to be too heavy and with rwd drivetrain losses that a 2.0 engine just won't cut it unless they get crazy boost levels from a stock engine like the evo.
I'm really watching this one...Almost bit the bullet with the Cobalt SS Turbo, but I really want rwd...Almost bought the genesis, but I really want more power. Let's hope that they tune the suspension on the 'ring and make this an all-around sports car and not just another front engine, oversteering modern muscle car - we have plenty of those already.
Oh and while I'm at it...Give it a 6 speed. But please do your math right. First 5 gears, close-ratio, but please.....6th gear should be TALL. There is no reason whatsoever you should need to spin the motor over 2500 rpm @ 80mph.
Posted by 3chord | March 30, 2009 7:24 AM
Posted on March 30, 2009 07:24
@ 3chord
Heh, on your last bit there, that's the only thing I wish my '91 and 93' MR2's had. One more gear would be purrfect. Hopefully, they do that with these, and resurrect the Toyota performance branch.
Posted by TSU | April 27, 2009 11:53 PM
Posted on April 27, 2009 23:53
woah if they plan on calling that the new celica then they might wanna just give up its ugly i would rather keep my 2003 they should keep the traits of the 2000-2005 celica like the head lights and shape. thats what is most attractive about them anyway. BOOOOOOO not this model BIG NO NO
Posted by tommy | September 20, 2009 1:19 AM
Posted on September 20, 2009 01:19