It appears the iconic Toyota Celica could soon be making a comeback, with a trademark filing for the nameplate recently being discovered by Australian publication Drive.
While routine trademark applications by carmakers aren’t out of the norm, the timing here is particularly interesting, given that the Japanese carmaker has only recently hinted at a Celica revival in an anime series. Recent unconfirmed reports from Japan have also pointed to an imminent return of the iconic Coupe.
Of course, these rumours don’t start from nowhere. In fact, it was Toyota’s President himself, Koji Sato, who first said “I want to revive the Celica” back in May 2023, in response to Chairman Akio Toyoda’s comments on his love for the coupe.
Less than six months later at Rally Hokkaido, Toyoda again hinted at the Celica’s revival while commenting on a sports car the carmaker had in development: “I’m not just saying this because we’re at a rally event, but Kankkunen is Mr. Celica. He was champion four times in the Celica.”
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“Now you can all have a think about why I’m using Kankkunen so much. See if you can guess,” he added.
Earlier this year, Japanese magazine Best Car – who are known to have insider information from Toyota – suggested a new 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four engine is currently being developed for future Celica and MR2 models.
Toyota has been on a mission to revive some of its most iconic sports car models in recent years. It started with the AE86 in the form of the GT86 and now GR86, and now even the Supra has also been revived under the Gazoo Racing banner after a 17-year hiatus.
With the Celica, which was last produced in 2006, Toyota will be one step closer to resurrect its “Three Brothers” – a name given to the trio of 90s Toyota sports cars, Supra, Celica, and MR2.
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