Red 1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST205) at night on a wet street (AI illustration based on a photograph)

AI illustration based on a photo by Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Details may differ from the real car.

Brands

Toyota sports cars

Toyota's sports cars have always come from a company better known for sensible ones, which is part of their appeal. This page follows them from the 2000GT through the Celica, Supra and MR2, with the engines, the racing and TRD.

The sports cars, in order

The 2000GT went on sale in Japan in May 1967 (source 1). The Celica followed in December 1970, built as an accessible alternative to more expensive sports cars, and grew into a rally car (source 2). The Supra began as a six-cylinder version of the Celica and became a separate model in 1986 (sources 2, 4). The MR2 went on sale in June 1984, with its engine behind the driver (source 3). The Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno of 1983 to 1987, known by the chassis code AE86, became a legend of their own, above all in drifting (source 5).

CelicaModel page coming
AE86Model page coming

What Toyota is known for

Twin-cam and turbo engines that tuners took well past their factory figures. The 4A-GE was Toyota's 1.6-litre twin-cam (source 2). The 3S-GTE turbo four was the most powerful 2.0-litre engine in Japan when it arrived (source 2), and MR2 specialist Fensport takes it to 280 to 300 bhp on standard internals (source 9). Of the JZ straight-sixes, HP Academy calls 600 hp easy for the 2JZ-GTE on standard internals (source 10).

In motorsport

World Rally Championship titles with the Celica GT-Four: the drivers' championship for Carlos Sainz in 1990 and 1992, Juha Kankkunen in 1993 and Didier Auriol in 1994, and the manufacturers' championship in 1993 and 1994 (sources 2, 6). More manufacturers' titles followed in 1999 and from 2018 on (source 6). At Le Mans, Toyota took its first overall win in 2018 (source 7).