The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of popular sports cars made by the Japanese company Toyota.
The first generation Celica was released to the market in 1971. Allegedly a "cut-down" version of Toyota's supercar, the 2000GT, the Celica was a relatively affordable sports car. Through seven generations, the model has gone through many revisions and design forks, including the Toyota Celica Supra (later well-known as the Toyota Supra). Others versions include a four wheel drive turbocharged model (designated All Trac in the US or GT-4 in Japan) (1987-1999), a hatchback model, and a convertible model.
Through all generations, Celicas have been built around Toyota's high-performance inline-4 engines. The most significant change between generations occurred in 1986, when the drive train was changed from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive. During the RWD generations, US market Celicas were powered by various versions of Toyota's single overhead cam 20R or 22R engines. During the FWD generations, top-model Celicas came with turbo and, most recently, variable valve timing tweaks.
In racing the Celica is known for its rally racing prowess. A special RWD variant has been entered into the Japanese Grand Touring Championship , and a specialized AWD variant, called the GT-Four, competed in Group A Rally racing from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. The GT-Four model was produced for the public in extremely limited numbers, and is considered a collector's item by some enthusiasts. In the street racing community, the Celica is a popular car due to its price and easily customizeable engine. The RWD Celicas were frequently used by street-based drag racers in the early 1980s.
The 1974 Celica liftback looked so similar to the 1969 Ford Mustang that it was sometimes referred to as the "Japanese Mustang," or more commonly, the "Mustang-style" Celica. This name has since fallen out of use.
In 1980, a four-door version was known as the Toyota Celica Camry. This model was a Toyota Carina with a Celica front end. The Camry was spun off into its own range two years later.
The Celica has been replaced in the 2005 model year in the US market by the Scion tC. It is unknown if the tC (based off the European market Toyota Avensis) will form the basis for the Celica overseas, or if the next Celica will be based on a different platform.
In July 2004 Toyota announced the Celica will be discontinued in the US at the end of the 2005 model year because of increasing competition and lack of sales. [1] Celica sales hit 52,406 units in 2000, but dropped sharply to just 14,856 in 2003. As of November, 2004, just 8,216 Celicas had been sold for calendar-year 2004.
Awards
The Celica Liftback was Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1976, and the Celica won the award again in 1978.
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