Back in November Toyota’s German Chief Markus Schrick confirmed Toyota was working on several new sports cars including a replacement for the Celica, and now Japanese magazines are claiming the new model will arrive as early as next year. The new car is said to be the joint-effort of a collaboration between Toyota and Subaru and it will reportedly be offered in two different variants, a cheaper GT model and a high-performance AWD GT-Four.

The two carmakers have been sharing production facilities and swapping engineers ever since Toyota bought a stake in Subaru early last year and these new sports cars are likely to be the first to be spawned from the partnership. The cheaper GT version is supposed to have a target price of under $20,000, Japan’s Best Car reports, which agree with earlier reports claiming Toyota was working on an affordable successor to the 1980’s AE86. The GT will feature a conventional front-engine RWD layout and will be powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0L Subaru four-cylinder boxer engine.


The more expensive GT-Four, meanwhile, will come with AWD as standard and get the same 300hp turbo four as the Japanese spec Subaru Impreza STI. According to the source, the engine in this car will be positioned closer to the firewall to help improve handling and it could also feature in-wheel electric motors to help traction.


Both cars will come in coupe and three-door hatch bodystyles and will be sourced from Subaru’s Gunma plant in Japan. No five-door hatch will be offered as Toyota and Subaru don’t want to compete with the current Impreza range.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/c...ade-by-subaru/

http://www.leftlanenews.com/toyota-plannin...ar-revival.html

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/new.../celica-redux/

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6229094/asia/s...trac/index.html

Choose your pick

 

The new GT sounds interesting. Sounds like a huge investment on Toyota's part. Why not just make a RWD version of the tC and call it a day?

 

i'll wait till its out, its got some big shoes to fill... if it ever makes it stateside.

 

we need a true RWD turbocharged sport compact car..

 

i knew this was coming cause Toyota is trying to get back in to rallying.

 

thats great news!!! ....if they could just match that EJ25 to the RWD layout that would be SWEEET!!!

 

Its about time Toyota decides to make sports car again.

 

Ive always been a big fan of the GT-Four. Nice to see that they're reviving it. Hopefully the design wont be too shabby like their current lineup.

 

That's what hyundai is coming out with in that Genesis Coupe i think it's called

 

The Genesis coupe is the size of a Mustang/G35, it is doubtful that the I4 turbo will br makeing (200-240? is there a final figure yet?) a good power to weight ratio

This car on the other hand will be much smaller, we will see how this play out

 

Actually Toyotas original plan with the Subaru built sports car was to leave them both as RWD with 2 motor packages. Its in an original press release sent to the dealerships managers if my aunt can find it I will gladly scan it and post it. Then the newer release has an AWD but there is nothing about the GT being RWD but instead being AWD as well. So we will see what else comes around but I beleive they will both be AWD and just be better looking versions of the STI

 

that would be awesome if we get that in the states...

 

I would love to see the press release

 

This sounds really interesting, but I'm still working hard to build up cash for an evo x or If work picks up, a gtr. That concept looking pic on the cover looks scrumptious though, if it looks anything like that and actually makes is stateside I'd have to convince wifee to buy one.

 

nice! sounds interesting... hopefully soon!