Toyota may have a new Celica in the works, according to gr86.org. While filing a trademark for Celica at this point in time seems to be rights retention more than anything, there is a trademark limitation of three years. After that time, Toyota would be required to re-apply to retain their rights to the iconic name.
Posing a question about a new Celica is one thing, while verifying it’s coming is quite another. With the Supra and the 86, Toyota has two sports or sporty cars in their current lineup already. Do sales warrant a third nameplate, or is this purely a matter of speculation?
The first generation 1971-1977 Celica, was very compact. Sporty though it may have appeared, it was underpowered, especially compared to Nissan’s 240Z. While it had a back seat, it wasn’t much more than a package tray, and you wouldn’t want to ride in it for very long. Comfort wasn’t one of its attributes.
1978-1981 marked the Celica’s second generation, with two body styles, a liftback and a coupe. The liftback’s interior was more spacious, and sales grew accordingly.
Toyota produced the third generation Celica from 1982 to 1985, this year with its distinctive hidden headlights.
The fourth generation of Celicas, 1986-1989, saw the addition of a convertible to the coupe and liftback models.
The early ’90s saw a more rounded design for the Celica, and the All-Trac Turbo’s debut. It also saw the fifth generation Celica narrowed down to a single body style.
The 1994-1999 Celica, now its sixth generation, saw the return of the convertible.
Is the seventh generation of the Celica, which was produced from 2003-2005, the end of the line? Celicas have been a part of the Toyota lineup for 34 years, attesting to their popularity. If an eighth generation Celica is coming with more evidence to substantiate its existence, you’ll hear about here.
[Images: Toyota]
They already sell a 4 cylinder Supra.
Yep.
A new Celica would be a non starter as it would be a combination of things that don’t sell these days, IE: sports cars / hatchbacks / two doors /coupes.
The only thing that makes sense as a “Celica” would be a convertible or hatchback version of the GT86.
Yeah, who is going to build this one for them? Ford?
I have a 1984 Celica and its pretty cool, but I rather see a 4-cyl Altezza: 4 door RWD lightweight sedan/5-door under $30k.
$30,000 today was $12,250 in 1984. Back then, you could get a base M-body Dodge Diplomat for that price. You can’t get anything like a ’84 Diplomat today.
Yeah who cares? It’s time for Toyota to stop sucking.
Iconic? The last Celica was based on the Corolla.
How about just don’t bother?
The Corolla wasn’t necessarily a bad vehicle, but the execution of the Celica was.
I loved the Corolla SR5s of the 80s and 90s. If they got rid of that Subaru (boxer) engine, the current 86 would be more appealing to me.
The Corolla is an awesome car. For it’s segment.
My MR2 MK1 was a Corolla variant too.
The past is the past and history doesn’t repeat itself at Toyota.
I think they’d have some success selling a GTI version of the Corolla.
Probably. But very limited success.
We’re talking Toyota. It has to suck.
They hate fun. Same as their core buyer/loyalist.
Somehow it would upset the delicate balance.
Time for a trip in the Wayback machine to the Corolla FX16.
I wished I’d bought one at the time, but I was one of very few who felt that way.
“They hate fun”
You mean this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vkxx1A7aJM
__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSN6PRgdwA__
There shooting for the 30000$ sport compact segment. With the supra ”starting” price of 50k *stripped* they think they can sell a 4 banger for 30k like the BRZ.
I expect a severely feature stripped semi light one model 4 banger for 30k .. questions is will it be RWD.
**ulness** it is a AWD shout out to the older turbo GT Celica’s they had to make available to the public to legimatize the rally Celica-GT-4..
THAT would be both weird and hot to see Subies AWD pinned under a Celica
The cheapest and easiest thing for Toyota to do (and maybe the most ‘business savvy’ decision) would be to slap the Celica name on the 86 (their version of the BRZ) and call it a day.
The BRZ/86 has some fundamental differences compared with ‘traditional’ Celica characteristics, e.g. RWD and not FWD, and it’s not a hatchback (though the back seat folds down, so, close enough). But it totally captures the sprit of being a light, small, inexpensive fun sports/sporty car – a vanishing breed in the market.
The ’86’ name might have more recognition in Japan. But in the U.S., not so much (outside of a small, hard-core group of fanatics). The Celica name has been gone for so long from the market that it probably doesn’t have much recognition any more either (outside of geezers like me who owned and fondly remembered the Celica’s from the 70’s and 80’s). But at least ‘Celica’ is a name and not an anodyne, soulless ‘number’ or alphabetic string like so many cars are being called these days. I’d rather say ‘Celica’ than ’86’.
I agree that’s the best use of the name. Problem becomes that’s now going to the the 4th name (counting BRZ) attached to essentially the same car in the US market. But like you say, at least we’re going from a fat-finger character string to an actual name.
The cheapest and easiest thing to do is what they’re doing: filing the trademark to retain the name. The next easiest is to slap it on a different vehicle.
Chrysler had a LH based station wagon they called Pacifica. Now the Chrysler Pacifica is a hybrid minivan. They’ve recycled other model names too, and so has Ford. They just have to keep the trademark current.
Seems to me the current 86 is their Celica. It’s not selling.
Much as I’d love to see cars like the Celica make a comeback, I don’t think it’s happening. Back in the day, these were sold to 20-something guys and gals; today, there are fewer 20-somethings out there with new car money. The ones who do have moved on – the guys to trucks, and the gals to CUVs.
Shame, but that’s where it’s at these days.
It’s probably an e-TNGA platform car since that’s their new focus. They should have their solid-state battery in production within 5 years and its light-weight would be an advantage in Celica. I’ve been following the patent filings for that battery for years now. It’s done and moving towards mass production.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Most-read-in-2020/Toyota-s-game-changing-solid-state-battery-en-route-for-2021-debut
https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a34893147/toyota-is-planning-a-new-ev/
As a teen, I was completely in love with the liftback version of the 76 Celica.
As each generation has edged closer to sportier intentions, the market for this car has narrowed to obscurity.
Today, it wouldn’t be worth tooling up a new Celica unless it was heavily derived from other vehicles – so why bother?
It’s not appropriate to compare the first generation Celica to the 240Z, they were in very different classes. Celica competitors included the Mercury Capri, the Opel Manta, and later in the decade, Datsun’s 200SX. Porsche’s 914 would be in the same class as a 240Z, as would a TR6.
I feel like any Celica would start out like the Santa Cruz we wanted and end up like the Santa Cruz we get.
By the time it made it to production it would be watered down and too expensive. Then when it didn’t sell, gone.
Not sure how much of a market there is for coupes anymore. After all, they are optimized for what people actually use their cars for. Rather than some polar opposite…..
It’s cool to see all of the models – and that made me realize how many Celicas have been in or near my life:
– I went to High School with a guy who had a gloss black Third Gen;
– My High School girlfriend’s Dad had a Supra Turbo ( honourable mention );
– My singer in a band back in the Nineties had a Fourth Gen that I drove a lot because beers;
– My brother’s then-girlfriend, now wife, had a Fifth Gen that he drove the Hell out of;
– My brother then bought a Seventh Gen that I drove the Hell out of, on occasion;
– A colleague at work used to have an All-Trac that he still regrets selling.
That’s a lot of Celicas in a guy’s life, considering that I’ve never owned one.
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Why do I suspect that Toyota will do with the Celica (name) that Mitsubishi did with Eclipse and Ford seems prepared to do with Mustang — try to keep the excitement of the nameplate, but put it on a more sales-friendly SUV? One just like everyone else is offering?