1994 – 1999 Toyota Celica: The Under Appreciated Over Achiever
The Celica is one of many storied names from Toyota’s vast staple of notable performance cars. At one time early in it’s 30 plus year history, it was selling well into six digit figures. Initially starting out as a small Japanese ponycar of sorts, a switch from rear to front-wheel drive for its fourth generation changed its dynamics forever. Since then, the Celica gradually lost its sporting edge that was at its height arguably with the third generation ’80s Celica/Supra. The coupe market has always been one to change quickly as tastes often change faster than the designers could keep up. With the Celica being on the higher price end of the affordable sport coupe market, it’s numbers would contract with each successive generation after the hey days of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Like Honda’s Prelude, the Celica would go up in price and develop a kind of near premium reputation. Also like the Prelude, the Celica would not be straight line speed star, but a real drivers car in usable everyday situations.
While the Japanese home market had everything from low power commuters to 200+ hp turbocharged all wheel super cars, the Celica in America was usually divided up into two trims. In fact in Japan, there was a spin off called the Curren that was the Celica with traditional halogen headlights. For North America, there was the base ST and more upmarket GT. Sometimes the GT with a handling package was called GT-S. Up till 1993 (missing the 6th gen entirely) the GT-Four (formally called All-Trac Turbo) could be found at selected Toyota dealers. The GT-Four was distinctive because of it’s grille, the biggest one since 1980. All these variants came as a coupe (more like a two door sedan a Oldsmobile Alora profile), liftback coupe and convertible. The later body style was partially assembled at Toyota’s Tahara Japan facility and shipped to California where roofs were shaved off for the convertible conversion by ASC. Convertibles in America were essentially GT cars often with posh leather interiors, air conditioning and CD players. Other more posh versions of the convertible were sold in Europe and Japan
Of all the Celica generations sent to America, the 6th would appear to be the most rare of the late generations. Searches for 6th gen cars turn up a few convertibles and a few GT coupes but oddly very few STs. Coupes were slowly falling out of favor and the Celica, with it’s high fit and finish, excellent resale value and reliability had become near premium. It usually sold for more than comparable Probes and Eclipses. Only the Honda Prelude could match it for refinement (and resale value). Like many cars with a long legacy of evolutionary design, the Celica for 1994 had become larger and more powerful and was itching ever closer to Lexus in overall presentation. In fact, the 1994 Celica would resemble the Lexus SC300 (Soarer) with its quad round headlight configuration. It was still recognizable as a Celica, thanks to other cues that recalled the Supra like softly rounded fenders. The head on view of the ST and GT (versions with no grille) was reminiscent of the second gen Camaro. Quad round headlights never took off despite Acura using them for it’s popular Integra in the late ’90s and Hyundai with its Tiburon shortly after.
Still a liftback or coupe, the new car managed to be lighter while offering more leg room and cargo space in its large windowed hatch. The engines were mostly carryover from before with base cars using a 1.8 liter 4 with 110 hp. The smaller engine could also be found in the Corolla where it offered more spritely performance. GT cars featured slightly different front vent arrays, prominent ground effects and most notable a big rear wrap around spoiler reminiscent of the Supra Turbo, but smaller. The 2.2 liter inline 4 in the GT (also used in the Camry) now had 130 hp. The final GT for 1999 would get a bump to 135 hp.
All Celica got a revised front MacPherson strut suspension for better handling . ABS brakes were standard on all trims (formally a GT-S feature). Disc brakes all-around remained a standard GT feature while the ST only had them up front. The most desirable of the Celica range continued to be the rare and expensive All-Trac, now called the GT-Four. Its sophisticated all-wheel drive system and turbocharged 242 hp 2.0-liter engine was purely aspirational to Toyota fanboys as it was not available in The States after 1993. With Mitsubishi and Subaru offering similar high performance cars in America, the absence of the GT-Four might have suggested a softer more luxurious Celica moving forward. Any performance aspirations had to come form the GT which with 130+ hp was simply outgunned by most of its competition. This was a time when those who could afford it were not buying the Celica for its performance, as it was not much more spritely than the two door coupe version of the Camry called the Solara.
The more common Celica ST offered some of the GT’s looks while offering EPA numbers in the 30s if equipped with the 5-speed manual transmission (a 4-speed automatic was optional). For more than 60% of Celica buyers (who were deemed to be mostly college educated and female), this was more than enough. Because the liftback could be had as a ST or GT, it was sometimes difficult to tell a stripped down GT from a loaded ST. Only the presence of the ST’s 14′ (later 15′) wheel covers gave it away. That distinction would eventually disappear if the right options were checked. The interior of the ST and GT were also similar with the latter offering leather seating surfaces as an option. Most Celica during this time featured that distinctly Japanese of cloth seat designs that were multi color, often with bold geometric patterns. The dash featured a wraparound console reminiscent of the Supra with full instrumentation on GT models. Also typical of the time was transitional audio that in the GT could include a 8-speaker stereo complete with AM/FM radio, cassette and CD player.
Handling and efficiency had always been a Celica strong suit. The previous generation Celica GT often trailed the competition in straight line performance, especially after the 3rd generation. In 1995 Motor Trend tested a GT that scored a respectable 0.87 g on the skidpad. The same magazine recorded a 0 to 60 time of 8.4 seconds for a 130 hp GT. The 2.2 was not designed to make a big impression in media comparison tests, but it’s torque curve was such that it worked well in the day to day driving demands of city life – making it more than adequate for its target market.
Celicas were considered efficient with a EPA highway rating of 28 miles on regular unleaded fuel. This sounds terrible by todays standards (especially with only 130 to 135hp), but this was in line with similar cars like the Eclipse/Talon in its mid-grade 2.0 trims. The ST with its 24/31 City/Hwy rating was closer in performance and efficiency to the J car coupes of the day (although I can attest to the ’91 Cavalier VL with a manual being faster than a ’90 Celica ST – I won’t say how:).
The increased body stiffening introduced in 1994 made driving to the limit feel drama free for the few who dared. More likely the quiet and composure revealed itself at highway speeds with typical Toyota/Lexus refined. In performance circles the Celica was considered slow, but well built and refined with the bonus of being sporty. Its telling that the only Celica appearance in the Fast and Furious franchise was a heavily modified 1995 GT-Four in the original 1999 film. With the Supra taking all the spotlight, the Celica would be all but ignored by the mainstream tuner community. This was a blessing in disguised as used examples were less likely to have been molested by kids trying to keep up with Evos and WRXs.
1994, the first year for the new Celica was a good one with over 32,000 units delivered to America. Even this number paled in comparison to six-digit sales numbers during the ’70s and ’80s. With the coupe market changing and the Dollar to Yen exchange rate favoring the Japanese, even the base Celica was becoming expensive by 1997. Sales reflected the change with each year after 1994 dropping dramatically (to just 5,234 by 1998). To many coupe buyers, that line between Lexus and Toyota was beginning to blur with Celicas costing more than some higher power Camaros and Mustangs.
The first casualty was the 200+ hp GT-Four, which was only available in America from 1988 to 1993. Globally, the GT-Four was not the only higher performance Celica. In Japan Toyota would continue to push the performance envelope with the new VVTL-i electronically variable valve-timing system. VVTL-i helped push models like the SSIII to the 200 hp mark and beyond. The technology would be introduced on regular import Celica GTs in 2000. In the meantime, Toyota dealers offered TRD accessories until a TRD branded Celica GT-S would be offered also in 2000. Near the end of the 6th gen production cycle, Toyota would reduce the number of colors offered to North American markets and streamline options leading to the elimination of the base engine. With only the 2.2 in its American Celica range, all 1998 cars were essentially GT cars with 130hp. (and a 5hp bump the following year). By then only the liftback and convertible body styles were offered.
The Celica was still popular in Japan and Europe where its sales were only marginally better than in America (formally the largest market for the Celica). Instead of ending the Celica with the sixth generation in the face of American sales not reaching 60,000 units, Toyota would double down on a new Celica that was engineered to be less expensive than the out going car.
The Celica ended in 2004, but it’s mission lives on in pieces and parts throughout Toyota’s recent car and crossover lineups. Its sprit lives on in everything from the sporty C-HR crossover to the all out 86/GR86 coupes. While the 86 is rear wheel drive and leans heavily into the original’s sporting heritage, any new Celica is bound to be a softer more gentler car, maybe even a sporty sequel to the now departed C-HR. This new Celica at worst would be like nearly all of Buick’s 2024 line that caters to people who don’t care about performance as much as style and value.
With the Celica’s return gaining more momentum (thanks to Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda publicly stating he wants to bring it back), we can only wait to see what form it will take. Hopefully Toyota will stay true to the Celica heritage (unlike Mitsubishi trying to brand a SUV as an Eclipse) like it did with the resurrected AE86. It will also be interesting to see what kind of drivetrain (ICE or hybrid) a new Celica would have and and where it might be built. Toyota’s recent huge U.S. battery plant investment in Greensboro, NC might suggest that it will offer future models like the Celica with a hybrid powertrain. Either way, the return of the Celica nameplate in whatever form it will take would be a welcomed development.
Autopolis 
Good looking car 😉