When Can We Expect The New Toyota Celica

Car enthusiasts have been begging Toyota for another Toyota Celica since the Japanese automaker stopped selling it in America in 2005. Toyota themselves have said they wouldn’t mind bringing the Celica back, including the company’s Chairman, Akio Toyoda. Now, and this is real, a Japanese Toyota executive has accidentally, on purpose, let slip to the Japanese car magazine Best Car that the company is, in fact, bringing the beloved nameplate back.  

Toyota Fully Commits to A New Celica 

At a fan event for Rally Japan, Akio Toyoda was asked point blank about the Celica, to which he replied, “I can’t answer that. But, there’s an executive here so I’ll ask him.” This is when Toyoda reportedly passed the microphone to Toyota Executive Vice President of Product Yuki Nakajima, to which he positively said, “We’re making the Celica. I’m not sure if it’s okay to say this in a public forum.” 

Celica History and What Will Power the New Car? 

So, then, what will the Celica be exactly? Will fans be drawn to it? For those who don’t know, the Celica was an appreciated coupe and liftback/hatchback that was first shown to the public at the 1970 Toyota Motor Show. It was last seen as a small, sporty liftback car in the early 2000s. According to reports, Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru have been working together on a pair of 1.5 and 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines. At the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota showed off a turbocharged 2.0-liter, which could possibly be the perfect engine for a Celica. Moreover, since the GR Corolla has all-wheel drive, it is entirely possible that the Celica could also be AWD. According to Best Car there has already been a turbocharged 2.0-liter that produces as much as 400 horsepower.   

Will The Celica Go Racing? 

Is it possible that Toyota could take the Celica back rallying? After a remarkable and successful campaign that saw the Celica GT-Four ST185 become the first car in World Rally Championship history to have three drivers’ championships, and amazingly with three different drivers, in 1992, ‘93, and ‘94. Even if Toyota decides not to go back to rallying, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to make a racing car out of a new Celica.  

An Eighth Generation Celica  

According to Toyota, an 8th-generation Celica is coming, but don’t expect it to debut before 2027 at the earliest. Here’s hoping that the Celica will still have a rear window that opens like a hatch and that the overall car is small and nimble like in years past.  

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