Japanese media reports that Toyota’s new mystery rally car definitely isn’t not a Celica.
The internet has come alive this week over speculation about what Toyota may have up its sleeve.
A video of a new mystery model, shown in the camouflage wrap of Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance division, set the internet alight with rumours and informed guesses.
Now, a report from Japan’s Best Car, claims to have some clarity on the new model – and it may not be just one car, but rather two at the same time.
Long-running speculation suggests that Toyota has been working on a mid-engined sports car, that would essentially serve as a replacement for the MR2, a model that was last produced in 2007.
A prototype exists, cloaked in the modified body of a Toyota GR Yaris and known, so far, as the GR Yaris M Concept.
It’s been used in demonstration runs during the All Japan Rally and Super Takyu racing series, and has been mooted as a potential WRC replacement for the current GR Yaris.
But there’s a problem: WRC regulations don't allow for mid-engined cars.
The camouflaged coupe potentially provides some clues here.
Its bodywork lacks the side intakes normally seen on a mid-engine car, either in the body or where the glasshouse currently sits, and its roof scoop is too small to feed an engine intake, looking more like the cabin vent of the current competition GR Yaris.
The heavily vented bonnet with design callbacks to the last rally-ready Celica, the GT-Four, points to an internal combustion engine up front, aligning with the Celica’s lineage as well as WRC rules.
To get to the bottom of the car's identity, Best Car spoke to an unnamed Toyota insider directly involved with the project and reports that “they didn't deny that the test car wasn't a Celica.”
According to the Japanese site, the new model is based on the GR Yaris M Concept and will evolve into the next Celica.
If that’s the case, it turns Toyota’s history on its head.
The Celica started life as a front-engine, rear-drive sports car, which later switched to a front-engine layout with front- or all-wheel-drive.
Meanwhile, the MR2 is essentially defined by its name, which mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-seater – or mid-ship run-about two-seater, depending on who you ask.
The big difference between the previous MR2s and the GR Yaris M Concept is all-wheel drive, which was never a feature of a production MR2, but was deployed on a prototype rally version in the 1980s.
If this new model is all of the things Best Car says it is, it will reach production as a mid-engined model, ditching the MR2 name in favour of the Celica name, with a front-engined version wearing a look-alike body used for WRC competition.
For its part, Toyota has confirmed that a new mid-engine sports car is coming, and will feature a new 2.0-litre turbocharged engine destined for a range of future GR products, but no timing has been given for when a production-ready version might emerge.
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
