Toyota Rally Prototype Signals Return of Celica Sports Car

Daily Car

Daily Car

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28/02/2026

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Photographers in Portugal captured a camouflaged Toyota test car that carries a coupé body and points to the rebirth of the Celica badge. The chassis is built for the 2027 World Rally Championship season, matching both the incoming rule book besides Toyota's own public hints that the famous sports car will return.

What the test mule shows

The car ran through a short shakedown with rally hardware bolted on. Flared arches create space for a wider axle track and gravel tyres. A tall rear wing and extra aero appendices aim to plant the rear at high speed on loose gravel. Beneath the add ons, the basic shell is a low coupé with a rounded roof. The nose repeats the sharp, fang shaped lamp theme first shown on the FT-Se concept study. The showroom version will drop most of those extreme parts and arrive with a calmer look.

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Rule change opens the door

The FIA will rewrite the top Rally1 technical rules for 2027. One clause permits two door coupé bodies, freeing teams from the hatchback or sedan shapes used this day. Toyota's present GR Yaris Rally1 will retire after 2026 - the new coupé will fill that slot. At present, Toyota is the only builder said to be crafting a clean sheet car around the 2027 rule set.

Part of a three car revival plan

Chairman Akio Toyoda wants the 1990s sports trio - Supra, Celica, MR2 - back in showrooms. The Supra landed in 2019. The Celica now moves to centre stage. The goal is to lift Toyota's performance profile and win buyers who value driver focused machinery. A Toyota vice president underlined this intent during the 2024 Rally Japan weekend.

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Link to past rally glory

The Celica name carries rally pedigree - the Celica GT-Four collected the manufacturers’ world crown for Toyota in 1993 and again in 1994. Fielding a new Celica in the WRC binds the 2027 challenger to that record of speed and strength. The prototype caught in Portugal is the first solid proof of how Toyota intends to extend that story into the next rally era.

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