Toyota Hopes To Resurrect Either The MR2 Or The Celica
Toyota is once again strongly hinting that the Supra is just the start of a sports car revival at the company. A few months ago Toyota Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada noted that the newly-established ‘GR Group’ enables the company to “have specific resources, more resources, for developing sports cars and race cars,” but now assistant chief engineer Masayuki Kai has gone a step further in whetting the appetite of petrolheads.
Speaking to Road & Track, Kai-san dropped two pretty major names into the conversation “We want to have Celica back, we want to have the MR2 back…The biggest was Supra. Supra was number one, the biggest demand from the market,” he said, adding, “Now that we’ve brought Supra back, what will come next depends on the market needs.”
As to how either car might shape up, there are no plans at this stage. Kai-san hinted about the possibility of a new all-wheel drive Celica, and a mid-engined car using the MR2 designation. “Or maybe it could be a completely different model…We’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Development costs remain a stumbling block - due to the more bespoke nature of sports cars and the more modest sales expectations, Toyota may need to go for another joint venture to make the business case work. It worked for the Supra, a car we probably wouldn’t have without the tie-up with BMW which has also given the world an all-new Z4.
When pointed out by Road & Track that Mazda manages to go solo with the MX-5, Kai-san responded: “They continuously developed that car. If you don’t do this - like Toyota, stopping the Supra for 16 years - it’s extremely difficult to bring it back.”
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I say MR2.
The Celica has no market - The GT86 is better in every way.
But the MR2 is different and could steal Porsche customers - Cayman/Boxster
The celica has no market?
If they bring it back with AWD and 270+hp it’ll surely sell to those who think the GT86 is too slow
Remember the Celica was originally a RWD sports car with an inline 4, 5 speed manual and weighing around 1000kg. With the option of ~140hp twin-cam engines, which can reliably be built to 200hp+ without forced induction. Far better than any GT86.
Make a Celica with the Camry’s V6 and an MR2 with the 86’s Boxer 4 with just a little more power
No, a true celica has to be a 4 cylinder, otherwise it’ll just be a small supra
I know a company that will put a camry v6 (old one) in a mk2 mr2! Baddass. Same output as the turbo but with loads of torque and flat power delivery. So much want!
New MR2 please. The older MK3 (pictured) was a much better drivers car than the mx5. Sold my mx5 after a few months for one.
Yes, please.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!1
I haven’t even read the article yet and I’m hyped!
But pls don’t be a self driving electric crossover thing
I really, REALLY hope toyota brings back the celica as a spiritual successor to the 90’s GT4 and a competitor to the WRX and/or STI. The early 2000s celicas were mostly 2 door corollas if they werent optioned with the high revving 2-ZZ, and i think most Americans can agree that we always want what we cant have, whether it was the civic type r for todays day and age, the GTR in the late 2000s, and the STI in the early 2000s. I dont even care if they have to bring it back as a 4 door to increase sales (like the type r), I’d just be happy to see japanese companies finally giving enthusiasts what we want.
The celica is probably gonna be a turbo corrola tbh
So if they go the MR-2 route, who do we have out there that does production mid-engine roadsters? First one I can think of is Porsche. How well has the Cayman and Boxster sold? Get some help from them, and you’re golden. The MR-S wasn’t cut off that long ago, so it’s not (like the Supra) forever ago. As for the Celica, make it rwd to hark back to the original, or even a fwd/awd one like the newer ones would be badass also. If rwd, Miata price range? Will Honda bring the S2K back? Hopefully.
I hope they make a new Celica, and make a GT-Four version for rally
I hope they make the MR2. The GT86 is pretty much a new Celica in my mind
Yeah it seems like a small convertible is the way forward unless they want to cannibalise sales