Picture this. The year is 2003. I’m a senior at a small high school in rural Maine. The first Fast & Furious movie premiered just two years earlier. And the coolest car in my school’s parking lot is a brand-new Toyota Celica.
The 2000s Celica was a wild-looking car. With its oversized wing, hood scoop and dramatic headlights, it looked like it had been designed by Dominic Toretto himself.
But as cool as I thought that car was, not enough buyers agreed, as Toyota’s sporty liftback was discontinued for good in 2006 after a 36-year, seven-generation run.
Now, nearly two full decades later, new rumors suggest the Celica could finally be on its way back.
Toyota’s Boss Wants a New Celica
According to a new report from Motor Trend, Toyota chairman Aiko Toyoda told Toyota’s internal news outlet, the Toyota Times, that he “put in a request” last year for the marque to make a new Celica.
Before you get too excited, however, the report also states that Toyoda poured cold water on the idea in the next breath, noting that he can’t greenlight a car all by himself and further stating that even if Toyota does go along with his idea to make a new sporty coupe, it won’t necessarily be a new Celica.
