Toyota confirmed 3 sports car lineup: Toyota exec wants to bring back Celica, MR2

Which lineup you think will become real at the end of the decade?


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Toyopet

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With all the partnerships, the techs are going to be busy, all new SSTs for the workshops, and availability to the european parts.
It was very difficult to source certain OEM parts even for the 86, I wanted a space saver spare and none of the Toyota dealers here had the part in stock, or even knew how to order it.
 

KahnBB6

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Toyota Files for ‘Celica’ Trademark Again and This Is Really Getting Old, Guys

https://www.thedrive.com/news/38840...ark-again-and-this-is-really-getting-old-guys
This is just my speculation but what if at a certain point it just won't be possible to make the GR86 in the same way again (non-hybrid, manual transmission, front engine and rear drive with a traditional mechanical LSD and relatively low weight) in a few years and the Celica hatch/coupe (actually as a hatch/coupe, not an SUV/crossover) would be a new age 2+2 entry level fun to drive model below the next A100 Supra.

The MR2 fits into a future lineup somehow as well but it probably will be much more upmarket than even the 1990-1996 SW20 Turbo MR2.

Toyota needs some kind of fun to drive 2+2 coupe with rear or all wheel drive power below the Supra and the awesome little 86 presents an issue as to just how its formula can be repeated easily when saddled with a hybrid system, no manual transmission and currently still quite heavy battery cells. It just isn't a model that can be done right if it's too big, weighs more than it does and even more importantly isn't first and foremost a small size pure driver's car.

This is where the Celica hatch/coupe might be able to more easily fit into the lineup after 2026 since it would still be expected to pull off some version of the sportiness of its ST165, 185 and 205 GT-Four Turbo roots but might be able to do it with new technology and still remain a fun driver-pleasing model in the sportier trim levels while having broader appeal than the 86 throughout the model range.

Now what would suck is if Toyota were to bring the Celica hatch/coupe back and make it another ugly wedge like the last one or a beautiful shape saddled with truly boring running gear and thus no appeal.

I will never forget when I went into a Toyota dealer in the mid-1990's and looked at one of their Celica hatchback's with the four headlights. I thought it looked beautiful! But then I saw the spec sheet:

Only a 135hp naturally aspirated 2.2L four cylinder and front wheel drive. No longer was the AWD 200hp+ turbo All-Trac available. You could get a manual transmission but most were automatics. Wow... for the money it was a hard pass. Very disappointing.

I think continuing the GR86 as a hybrid-electric model may be a real challenge for Subaru and Toyota. A new Celica however as another GR product (and hopefully all Toyota this time) may be a different story altogether.
 

Red-hat

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Bestcar is saying we're getting an EV Celica.

https://bestcarweb.jp/backnumber/279488
This actually makes some sense IMO. If Toyota are to offer sports cars beyond about 2030, they need to start developing hydrogen or EV ones, since gasoline powered ICEs will probably have been regulated out of existence by then. Makes sense to dust off the currently unused but still widely recognised Celica name for it.
 

Red-hat

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The MR2 fits into a future lineup somehow as well but it probably will be much more upmarket than even the 1990-1996 SW20 Turbo MR2.
I would love a new MR2, but I think it is doubtful. I don’t see a viable business case for it.

Toyota needs some kind of fun to drive 2+2 coupe with rear or all wheel drive power
Why assume it won’t be FWD, with AWD for the top trim? That is feasible as well given the last Celicas were FWD platforms with AWD added on as needed. The dedicated RWD Celicas ended in the 1980s.

Now what would suck is if Toyota were to bring the Celica hatch/coupe back and make it another ugly wedge like the last one
The 7th gen (last gen) of Celica was a great looking car, modern and sleek. Toyota could do worse than simply dust off that timeless sports car wedge shape, update the details, and make an 8th gen. Styling is subjective though. ;)
 

KahnBB6

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From the Bestcar article:

"Toyota is looking not only at EVs but also at hydrogen engines and e-FUEL for carbon neutrality in the future!

The best car scoop team catches such Toyota's power unit strategy. The hydrogen engine here is not a system that generates electricity with hydrogen installed in MIRAI etc., but a "hydrogen combustion engine". It can be called a new form of internal combustion engine.

I'm curious about the model equipped with those power units, but it is said to be the resurrection "Celica" registered as a trademark in North America. The installation of a hydrogen combustion engine is considered to be promising, but there is a high possibility that it will appear as a pure EV sport."

This is interesting. If Toyota pushes ahead with a hydrogen internal combustion engine it could be the most fun near carbon neutral sports model the company has produced to date. But I suspect that it will still be easier to sell it globally as a pure EV since the hydrogen refueling infrastructure just isn't there yet and further we haven't yet come up with a volume method of producing hydrogen in such a way that it takes no more than the same energy to produce it as it has to give.

Maybe this model and the MR2 are where Toyota will debut their latest advances with solid state batteries.

Either way a new Celica would be great, though I'm personally not sold on Bestcar's imagined rendering of it.
 

KahnBB6

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I would love a new MR2, but I think it is doubtful. I don’t see a viable business case for it.
The MR2 rumor news has come up more than once in the last couple of years. I think it depends on how Toyota wants their sports model product stack to look past 2026. An A100 Supra as a hybrid seems to me a no-brainer and it would be stupid for Toyota to kill of the model just because it cannot be pure gasoline-turbo in the next generation.

But if Toyota wants to make the next MR2 a $90k+ pure EV or hybrid high end sportscar it would at that price point out-class the Supra both as we have known it in the past and as we currently know it. Supposedly Toyota had one very early design direction for a new MR2 but shelved it and moved in another direction. Little more than that is known right now.

I don't feel that a new MR2 should be such an expensive car but maybe a near six-figure price tag is what Toyota and Akio want to do with it going forward. Or maybe that's how much the best new technology for it is going to actually cost.

Whatever they're doing they seem to think there is some business case for it but it may no longer be the small and affordable mid engine runabout that it once was.



Why assume it won’t be FWD, with AWD for the top trim? That is feasible as well given the last Celicas were FWD platforms with AWD added on as needed. The dedicated RWD Celicas ended in the 1980s.
A fair point as that was the case with the late 80's and 90's Celicas. However if Toyota does end up making a new Celica as a pure EV then there is almost no reason why it would need to be offered as a FWD at all. With few exceptions FWD was a cheap and easy packaging setup for internal combustion drivetrains in affordable and small and midsize cars so as not to compromise interior room.

Electric motors are so compact that with a clean slate chassis design there won't be an inherent need to place a base electric motor at the front wheels in a sports coupe design. This would allow the Celica to go back to its late 70's and early 80's RWD roots. For a Celica "All Trac"/"GT Four" variant there could be an electric motor at each axle.

If on the other hand this new Celica ends up being a gasoline-electric hybrid of some kind then it probably will have the hybrid internal combustion engine at the front driving the front wheels and perhaps then the GT Four variant will have the integrated electric motor inside the ICE hybrid transmission as well as an electric motor powered rear axle.

What I do not see happening is a RWD internal combustion style chassis with a hybrid gas-electric engine at the front driving the rear wheels with a driveshaft to a conventional differential. It would be amazing if that were to happen in a new production Celica but it seems much more likely that one of the other two layouts would make production depending on what kind of drivetrain it ultimately gets.

If Toyota somehow justifies the new Celica as a hydrogen internal combustion engine as theorized in the article (doubtful due to refueling infrastructure lacking so much and due to the lower fuel economy with hydrogen combustion) then it would almost certainly have a FWD/AWD drivetrain layout once again. But I don't think that will be the case for this model.

Hydrogen internal combustion is cool despite it's drawbacks but without much infrastructure and with the other issues associated with producing it at current time I think it's a way off if it ever is offered at all.

The 7th gen (last gen) of Celica was a great looking car, modern and sleek. Toyota could do worse than simply dust off that timeless sports car wedge shape, update the details, and make an 8th gen. Styling is subjective though. ;)
We'll just have to agree to disagree on the styling of the 7th gen Celica ? I didn't hate it really but it did not have nearly the appeal in my opinion of the 5th gen and 6th gen Celica models, especially the All-Trac/GT-Four versions.

We also sadly didn't receive the 3S-GE BEAMS engine that the JDM 6th gen Celica got, just the Camry's 2.2L 135hp 5S-FE. The 7th gen Celica GT-S's much lighter weight and inclusion of the 180hp 1ZZ-FE 6-speed drivetrain made it very memorable though. Even so, I liked the looks of the 6th gen hatchback model even though its lack of engine power and AWD were severe letdowns.

I remember looking at the brochures for that 6th generation Celica when it was still new and remarking that it looked very good... but that the asking price was a complete joke for having only 135hp non-turbocharged, FWD-only. The 7th gen Celica did not win me over with its looks at all but the GT-S 6-speed, despite still not being up to the level of an All-trac/GT-Four, was an excellent performance value.
 

Bryster

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Frankly a Hydrogen ICE sounds good, but it needs to be tested out first
 

KahnBB6

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Frankly a Hydrogen ICE sounds good, but it needs to be tested out first
They are currently with a modified GR Yaris. In the past, BMW had a hydrogen ICE V12 7 Series and Mazda had a hydrogen version of the RX-8.

I think the biggest hurdles will be the refueling infrastructure and poor fuel economy. Still, it’s another (nearly) zero emissions way for niche and classic internal combustion vehicles to live.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/to...rolla-has-a-hydrogen-fuelled-gr-yaris-engine/
 
 




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