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T200 Toyota Celica Revival Imagines Itself Living the Feisty WRC Life of a GR Yaris

Produced by the Japanese automaker between 1970 and 2006 in no less than seven generations, Toyota’s Celica undoubtedly lived in the shadow of the greater Supra sports car. Alas, that does not mean it lacks hero traits.
T200 Toyota Celica GR Yaris revival rendering by spdesignsest 20 photos
Photo: spdesignsest / Instagram
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Rallying fans will easily remember the glory days of the A60 (third-generation) when Juha Kankkunen appeared with the 1985 Toyota Celica TwinCam Turbo Group B monster or the extensive life of Celica’s GT-Four high-performance iteration (1986-1999) and its WRC trials and tribulations. As such, would it be surprising to consider the Celica nameplate for a potential rebirth?

Not for Siim Parn, an Estonia-based virtual artist better known as spdesignsest on social media, it seems. He is finally back cooking up some of our favorite neo-retro transformations. First, he unleashed a Gordon Murray T.33 that morphed into a spiritual successor for the iconic McLaren F1, and although we consider it a bit too niche, one can also ogle at it at will because it is also embedded second below.

Then, our minds were CGI-blown away with the imaginative revival of the quirky, twin frog-eyed T200 sixth-generation (1993-1999) Celica based on none other than Toyota’s new crazy street-WRC kid on the block, the 2021 GR Yaris pocket rocket hot hatchback. Sure, the resemblance – so far, given how the author tends to present more than a couple of POVs for each virtual design project – is not that uncanny if you ask us.

But perhaps the author only wanted to highlight the 1990s Celica restomod-like neo-retro transformation technical base. The design, however, remains a tribute to the quirky decade it originally lived in. Frankly, we do not mind that, as yesteryear’s exaggerations have been tamed enough for a contemporary retro look.

And then, such a coupe design packing the GR Yaris powertrain would certainly represent a blast on and off the beaten tarmac. Alas, we have a feeling that it will forever remain just wishful thinking and the latest Toyota GR sports car teaser does not have Celica in its sight but rather the bland, modern-age Corolla.





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Editor's note: Gallery includes official images of Toyota GR Yaris.

About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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