Toyota GR Celica could be reborn as electric sports-car – report

Toyota's top brass are in agreement – they want to bring the Celica back.

According to a report from Japanese publication Best Car, newly-appointed Toyota President Koji Sato and his predecessor, Chairman Akio Toyoda, openly spoke about their ideas for a new Celica to an audience at a recent round of the Japanese Rally Championship.

Mr Toyoda reportedly admitted of his love of the Celica – an iconic Toyota sports-car produced between 1970 and 2006 – to which Mr Sato responded: "I want to revive the Celica".

Toyota Japan poured fuel on the fire, telling Best Car: "The new president of Lexus and the GR Company, Sato, has the intention of continuing to release GR sports models."

Before taking over the top job from Mr Toyoda, Mr Sato was previously the president of Lexus and the president of Gazoo Racing – Toyota's motorsports team and high-performance road-car division.

This digital illustrations by artist Theottle (top) provides some kind of idea of how the Celica could be revived, taking inspiration from the GR86 and other two-door models from Lexus.

MORE: Toyota Celica revival imagined – with hot GR flagship

It's not clear whether the Celica would be offered as a standard passenger car as well as a high-performance GR variant – like the Yaris and Corolla – or whether it would be produced purely as a GR coupe, like the GR86 and GR Supra.

An insider told Best Car bringing back the Celica was "possible", adding: "If we were to start now, it would be a [battery-electric] sports coupe. A modern updated design would be powerful, while adding the image of the Celica of yesteryear."

Would you like to see the Toyota Celica return as an electric sports coupe? Let us know in the comments section below.