Next-generation Toyota Celica to bear GR name?

Toyota Motor Company Vice President Hiroki Nakajima’s remarks at last year’s WRC Rally Japan represented the first formal confirmation that a new Celica is coming. And now, there’s more evidence that the model will indeed be part of Toyota’s high-performance GR family.

A trademark filing from Toyota was published in Brazil, where the Celica name features the GR prefix. The document for trademark simply says “automobiles and their structural parts”, and did not come with such important details like powertrains and engine classification.

While most of the time trademarks are being done to protect intellectual property, we should note that TMC Vice President Nakajima said the GR Celica could be released this year.

If the statements are indeed accurate, then the new Celica could be the first GR sports car to have Toyota’s new 400 PS 2.0-liter, turbocharged engine called G20E paired with the brand’s GR-Four all-wheel-drive system.

Likewise, Toyota has been hinting at reviving the MR2 nameplate, and could possibly use the same engine. The last time the MR2 and Celica were in production, they shared the 1ZZ-FE 1.8-liter engine. But their most potent engines came when they shared the 3S-GTE engine for the SW20 MR2 and the ST205 Celica GT-Four.

On a platform standpoint, it completely makes sense as Toyota will not need to develop separate engines for two high performance models. So will Toyota do the same for the next-generation MR2 and Celica? There’s interesting times indeed.