8th Gen Toyota Celica Still in the Works but Don’t Believe the Renderings

It wasn’t long ago that Aiko Toyoda himself proclaimed that he had a strong desire to resurect the Toyota Celica, but he needed more support from within the company to make it happen. Eventually, a Toyota exec confirmed to a group of rally fans in Japan that an 8th gen Celica was in the works. Now we have a new update on the Celica’s development from representatives at Toyota North America and it sounds very promising.

In an interview with MotorTrend, Toyota North America senior vice president of Product Planning and Strategy Cooper Ericksen says approval is the biggest hurdle in the Celica’s development process right now. “Bottom line is we are working on a product that could theoretically go by the Celica name If we can figure out how to pull it off and it gets approved,” said Ericksen.

So how far along is the Celica’s development? “Pretty advanced,” according to Ericksen. Apparently prototypes and concepts have already been shown to select dealerships though Ericksen says not to believe any Celica renderings you may have seen floating around the internet as they’re unofficial and inaccurate. What is real is that as we speak, there are Celica test mules in the wild experimenting with different powertrains. Toyota brought a prototype 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder good for 400 horsepower that is rumored as a major engine candidate for the new Celica, but we’d take that with a sprinkle of sodium.

In the early days of the Celica rumors we suspected that a hybrid powertrain would be on order but according to Ericksen, that may not be the case. “Akio [Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.] has said when it comes to specialized GR performance products, it is very difficult to replicate that emotional driving feel out on track with something other than traditional ICE (internal combustion engine),” said Ericksen. “So, while there could be a [electric] motor in a future Celica, I’m not closing the door to a vehicle that is ultra lightweight, that has a super advanced system but is still a traditional ICE. It could be something that does not have an electric drive.”

Ericksen’s comments also seem to suggest that the Celica may or may not under Toyota’s “GR” product line. Perhaps the deciding factor is whether or not the Celica gets that electric motor. If it does get electrified then maybe it doesn’t get the GR badge but if it goes pure internal combustion then it might make more sense to brand it as a “GR Celica.”

We’ll all just have to “wait and see” according to Ericksen. In the meantime we’re going to keep our eyes peeled for any spy shots of the Celica test cars in action.