Having revived the Supra after its long respite, Toyota could see a revived Toyota Celica, which ended production in 2006.
Ex-CEO and current Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said in the automaker’s internal publication, the Toyota Times, that he requested the sport coupe be revived. Speaking at the Rally Hokkaido, an international rally racing event held on the island of Hokkaidō in Japan, Toyoda was asked if he could put in a request for a revived Celica.
“Well, I have,” he said. “But I don’t know what name it will come out under.”
Adding fuel to the fire was the presence of Juha Kankkunen, a former multiple-time World Rally Champion who won his final championship in a turbocharged Celica GT-Four in 1993.
Toyoda added, “I’m not just saying this because we’re at a rally event, but (four-time World Rally Championship title winner Juha) Kankkunen is Mr. Celica. He was champion four times in the Celica. Now you can all have a think about why I’m using Kankkunen so much. See if you can guess!”
After four world championships, 23 WRC wins and 75 podiums, Kankkunen’s assistance in developing a new Celica wouldn’t be a stretch. It’s a model that would join the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, GR 86, and Supra in a growing gallery of hot Toyotas.
Toyoda’s statement only reaffirms what Japanese publication Best Car reported in May. When Toyoda declared his love of the Celica, Toyota President Koji Sato added, “I want to revive the Celica”.
And when your family has run the automaker since its inception, well, odds are this request will be fulfilled. But his wishes aren’t always followed. “I won on the Crown,” he said, “but the Prius was claimed by people who didn’t want to side with me.”
Toyoda wanted it to remain the commodity car it always was, while others wanted it to become sportier and fun-to-drive. The latter group prevailed. “I think it’s good that we became a product-centered company capable of having such discussions for the sake of making ever-better cars.”
The Toyota Celica sport coupe was launched in 1970 to compete against the Ford Mustang. It would spawn the Celica Supra in 1979, as well as an all-wheel-drive GT-4 model in 1986.
