The MR2 And Celica Could Return In Toyota's Sports Car Offensive
Toyota used to make some brilliant sports cars, didn’t it? The company’s line-up in the 1990s had some corkers in it, but one by one, they were discontinued. Up until recently, the GT86 was the shining light in an otherwise dull stable.
But things are changing. The Supra is coming back for one thing, but that’s just the start, with the company’s new ‘GR’ sub-brand opening up multiple sports car possibilities.
During a roundtable interview with Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada at the 24 Hours of Le Mans - where it was also revealed a Supra GRMN is in the works - Car Throttle asked if any other sports cars from Toyota’s past would be resurrected.
With a grin, Tada-san immediately responded “Celica, MR2, is what I’m guessing? We’ve had many requests from all over”. So far, so vague, but the new company setup does indeed allow for new sports cars.
He went on to say:
“As part of showing that we want to commit to this line [of performance cars], we established the GR Group that specialises in racing and sports cars and what that organisation allows us to do is have specific resources, more resources, for developing sports cars and race cars. [As for] what we will introduce - we will be investigating what will be the most appropriate for us.”
At the Geneva Motor Show last year, Tada-san told journalists that the intention was for Toyota to have a sports car line-up consisting of “The Three Brothers” - the GT86, the Supra and another sports car widely speculated at the time to be an MR2 successor.
Should the MR2 be brought back, we’d expect it to be more like the second-generation car, as opposed to the low-cost, low-powered third-gen machine. After all, the GT86 already occupies the entry-level space and the Supra is expected to be priced at a premium, so it’d make sense for Toyota’s next sports car - whatever it’s called - to slot in between the two.
We can’t wait to see what GR comes up with.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
HYPE
Yes, but will it have snap oversteer?
[[[SNAP OVERSTEER]]]
Lift off oversteer is a FWD thing
“”too dangerous””
2 weeks later:
The new MR2 is an electric crossover.
They literally said theyd return the cars as a SPORTS CAR offensive
“But we’ll make it fast! Look, it’s got sporty trim pieces”
In pretty sure it only makes sense if the Celica acts a Cayman Rival or a Sports Coupe for Golf R money
The the MR2 better be mid engined and better be priced around MX5 money
1) They can’t make a mr2 if it isn’t mid engined (Mid-engined Runabout 2-seater)
2) An mr2 priced similarly to an mx5 doesn’t make sense as it would be too close to the gt86, which it would be faster than (better balance and they probably won’t give it less than 197bhp)
This means he mr2 would likely slot in a tier below the boxster/alpine/4cyl f-type range but above the mx5/gt86 level.
Or if they replace the GT86 with the celica and return to where they left off 3 generations ago
So if enough people call Tada-san and his company B-O-R-I-N-G
They just might end up making some cool cars again…
As boring as Toyota are… Making a 300 horse power Camry… Is pretty not boring.
Also, their off-roady vehicles are pretty exciting… Well, if you’re into that
Bet it will be an horrible crossover with 105hp and a microscopic turbo pretending to be a sports car
At this rate i bet on it
They literally said theyd return the cars as a SPORTS CAR offensive
Please read before commenting
Can’t wait for a Celica Crossover
Yes please! I’d like to see the MR2 slot in between the GT86 and Supra. Maybe a Cayman or A110 rival? Not sure if we need a Celica since we have the GT86. Unless perhaps they make it AWD like a GT4
I assumed the Supra would be a Cayman rival since it’s based on a Z4?
The celica can be an sti rival if it’s awd. Plus the only rival the sti really had (the evo) is now gone. Seems like a perfect chance to slip an awd sports car in the mix
What if next gen of GT86 will be renamed to Celica? That could happen and it’d make perfect sense
If this turn out to be true Toyota will dominate the market of cheap RWD cars for years.
Toyota is making themselves the anti-Mitsubishi, they’re bringing back their old names…but better.
True, they make dull cars for dull people (majoraty) and actual sports cars for car guys. It’s a win - win situation and would make them even more number one in the world