Toyota Celica
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. The best known of these forks was the Celica Supra "Ferrari Killer" offshoot. Others include a four wheel drive turbocharged GT model (1991-1994), 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, GT model Celicas featured dual overhead cam heads as well as more interior options. During the FWD generations, GT 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. 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 80s. It retains its name as the "Japanese Mustang" (after the Ford Mustang musclecar), due to one of models in 1978 looking very similar to the Mustang of the time.
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 US at the end of the 2005 model year because of increasing competition and lack of sales. Celica sales in 2000 hit 52,406 units, but dropped sharply to just 14,856 in 2003. Sales have fallen a further 33.8 percent through June 2004.
