Ever because the debut of the Scion FR-S method again in 2013, Toyota has talked about constructing “three brothers” of sports activities vehicles — a lineup to match the Supra, Celica, and AE86 Corolla of outdated. The Supra and 86 slots have lengthy been crammed, however that third brother has remained elusive. Some thought it meant the child S-FR, others contemplated about a brand new MR-2, others nonetheless thought the GR Yaris or GR Corolla would take the rally Celica’s spot. Extra just lately, although, it is change into clear: A brand new Celica is within the works.
Toyota hasn’t mentioned a lot publicly concerning the automobile, however bits and items of knowledge have trickled out of Toyota Metropolis to offer us some sense of what would possibly come down the pipe — if, in truth the brand new Celica is definitely accredited by the corporate’s higher-ups. The automobile is in lively improvement, however feedback from of us concerned make it sound like nothing’s positive but. In reality, the automobile being developed at Toyota could not even find yourself with a Celica identify in spite of everything that work. The corporate is actually engaged on one thing, although, and a few interviews and public statements may give us an concept about what it’d appear like.
Is a brand new Celica actually confirmed?
Late final yr, Toyota vice chairman Yuki Nakajima informed crowds {that a} new Celica was coming — whereas mentioning in the identical breath that “there isn’t any signal of it proper now.” Simply final week, Toyota North America’s Vice President of Product Planning and Technique informed MotorTrend that work was persevering with apace. He lambasted the inaccuracy of AI-generated pictures floating across the internet, but in addition mentioned that “we’re engaged on a product that would theoretically go by the Celica identify If we are able to determine methods to pull it off and it will get accredited.” Each announcement, each point out of the automobile’s identify in public, at all times comes with some quantity of hedging on Toyota’s half. The Celica appears removed from confirmed, but it surely does sound like at the least some of us on the firm wish to see the automobile hit vendor flooring.
Sellers have seen ideas for the brand new automobile already, in accordance with MotorTrend, and mules are operating round in secret. However with out leaks from these sellers, with out spies photographing these mules, there’s little we are able to inform concerning the possibly-upcoming automobile. It could possibly be electrical, hybrid, or ICE, it might have two doorways or extra, it could by no means even see the sunshine of day. However we all know it’s going to be sporty, we all know it’s going to match into the slot left by that third brother, and we are able to fairly guess that the gearheads at Toyota need fanatics to point out enthusiasm for a brand new Celica that the bean counters can financial institution on when approving a brand new automobile. In any case, why would they provide all that media consideration to a automobile that hasn’t but been accredited if to not bolster its chanced of constructing it?
