Here’s un peu de inside dope from France’s L’Automobile mag. Bottom line: the on-again off-again on-again off-again Toyota – Subaru rear wheel-drive car is . . . on again. And it’ll be called a Celica. Or not.
Chez Toyota, les bons et loyaux services ne sont pas toujours récompensés : après sept générations et six titres de champion du monde des rallyes, le coupé Celica a été remercié, en 2006, faute de ventes suffisantes (ci-contre, la septième et dernière génération). Mais le géant japonais s’apprête à lui donner une seconde chance. En 2010, Toyota lancera à nouveau un coupé sportif abordable, étudié par Subaru. Une information confirmée par Thierry Dombreval, vice-président des ventes et du marketing de Toyota France, dans le numéro 755 de L’Automobile Magazine.
Pour l’occasion, la lignée des Celica devrait ressusciter. Et renouer avec ses premières amours : la propulsion, employée sur les trois premières générations du coupé japonais, puis abandonnée au profit de roues avant motrices. Mais la version Turbo 4×4 (ci-contre, dans sa cinquième génération, commercialisée en 1989), à l’origine de multiples victoires en rallye, devrait également être réanimée : comme sa cousine commercialisée par Subaru, cette Celica 8 pourra en effet disposer d’une transmission intégrale. Malgré l’arrivée de la Prius 3, d’une future Auris Hybride et d’une iQ électrique, Toyota semble donc décidé à renouer avec la sportivité.
Ah, wouldn’t it be great if they did revive the true Celica, the turbo 4 wheel drive. After that, the Celica was hardly a top tier sports car, it was just a ricey fanboy car that had more in common with a Civic Si than a rally-winning turbo monster. Although the 1.8 Lotus/Yamaha engine was nice, if a bit underpowered.
Yes, Toyota. Bring back the Celica. You will need something sporty. Instead of messing around with the entire brand of Scion, you could have had a sporty Celica on the lot with some box thing. You should understand how to be sporty, I mean you put your engines into Lotus.
@JEC
Agreed (although slightly taken aback at ‘ricey’ – in stock form it’s a clean looking car. Pictured as above, no question, Fast&Furious is in play here). Rumors of Celica resurrection have been around ever since it was taken off the market. If one were to appear in a showroom, I’d look at it. Until then, meh. Coincidence that a new F&F movie is coming out this month? Could this be another Transformers/Camaro moment in the making?
Ah, wouldn’t it be great if they did revive the true Celica, a sporty, affordable reliable front engine rear drive coupe like the kind Ove Andersson campaigned against factory teams from Fiat and Ford in mid-1970s.
While it wasn’t a “top tiered” sports car, or sports coupe, it had balance and was fun to drive, even though here in the States it was saddled with a horrible boat anchor of an engine.
If Toyota does it right, they could own a market niche that was once occupied by not only the successful Celica, but the Ford Capri, and in a similar vein, the BMW 2002 and Datsun 510.
Front-engine, rear wheel drive; nice 50/50 weight balance, affordable, not fancy, not flashy and fun-to-drive.
My college roommate, sophomore year (82/83) owned a Celica Supra. What a great car that thing was. Light, fast, fun.
–chuck
Normally, I don’t believe in a higher authority, but God, if you’re listening, please let this be true…
Would that be the Scion Celica?
Because otherwise, this would be a bit queer to sell 40 feet away from the nigh-identical-except-for-the-drivetrain-which-most-people-don’t-understand-anyway Scion tC…
People, what do you think the letters “t” and “C” in Scion tC stand for?
People, what do you think the letters “t” and “C” in Scion tC stand for?
When you put it that way, okay! But Toyota was forced to use “tC” because Volvo owns “XC”.
(And will these damn automakers go back to using real names. I’d settle for those stupid quasi-English words the Japanese conjure up for their JDM models.)
After the final abomination a retrenchment would be in order. Go back to the basics like others have said above.
This was Toyota’s answer to the Mustang and the Capri. I don’t know what that last generation was supposed to be, except competition for the Aztek in the ugly sweeps.
It would be nice to see them bring it back as someone else said: small, sporty, affordable, light and fun to drive.Perfect for positioning as the anti Mustang, Camaro and Challenger and there is a market for it.
I think the time is ripe for another Celica. My brother had a 72 and it was a neat car all around.
It would be nice to see them bring it back as someone else said: small, sporty, affordable, light and fun to drive.Perfect for positioning as the anti Mustang, Camaro and Challenger and there is a market for it.
You’re pretty much describing the last Celica. Small, very, very light (like “a few pounds more than the Echo” light), fun to drive. People didn’t buy it, at least not compared to the tC.
It’s the perverse version of “You get what you pay for.”
@James2: I particularly like the names that just plain don’t translate well into English, like the Mitsubishi Fuso Super Great (which succeeded the Great — it’s a heavy-duty commercial truck, btw), and Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear Royal Exceed. Plus, Subaru had a Sambar model in Japan that had the ad tagline, “TOUGH X COOL,” next to a picture of a Sambar with a cello in the back.
I’m sure they make perfect in Japanese.
@paul: good names you cite, but don’t forget Mazda Laputa (laputa = whore) and Mitsubishi Pajero (pajero = wanker) as far as the translations were explaned to me..
And maybe the best name ever put on one of those Kei-segment vans, Mazda Scrum, perhaps because you are packed in so tightly that you believe you are trapped in the middle of a (rugby) scrum… we just called it the Scum Wagon.