After months, if not years, of rumors, Toyota has finally confirmed that a new Celica sports car is in the works. The news was reported by Autocar, which cited Yuki Nakajima, executive vice president at Toyota. The latter confirmed this during the Japan rally last week.
According to the senior official, work on the car is underway, but we are only at the first strokes of the pencil.
Rumors surrounding the model have been circulating for several years. In fact, there was often talk of the return of a trio of sports cars, the other two being the Supra and the MR2. The first has returned, we will have to see for the second, while the Celica is on its way back.
There is hope, however. Earlier this year, we will recall that an episode of the Toyota cartoon (Grip) showed several potential new models, including a new Celica, as well as new Supra, MR2, GR86 and GT GT3. In the case of the latter, it has already been spotted testing, both as a race car and as a road car that could potentially sport a Lexus logo.
La Toyota Celica 2006 | Photo : Toyota
An absence of 20 years
The Celica bowed out after the year 2006, after seven generations of models. Toyota continued to register the name with the authorities, in order to maintain exclusivity.
What we don’t know is whether the new Celica will be powered by a gasoline engine, or even fully electric or hybrid. Toyota has already mentioned that it is planning an electric sports car. Bets are on.
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