You will have to like Toyota, the corporate that is about to relaunch two petrol sports cars, without electrification and with the option of a 6-speed manual transmission!
Amid a commercial avalanche that is pushing electric and hybrid cars like never before, Japan’s largest automaker is very pleased to let the EV market become saturated while still offering enthusiasts what they want: sports cars powered by a turbocharged gasoline engine.
That’s right, according to Japan’s best-selling automotive magazine, Best Car, Toyota plans to resurrect two of its legendary sports car names, the MR2 and the Celica. And no, possibly they would not be electric or even hybrid.
Yes, whether it is or not, there is still a significant market niche for these types of sports cars and Toyota needs to capitalize on it. The automaker has demonstrated this over the last decade through the launch of a handful of sports coupes, all powered by gasoline engines, adding the Scion FR-S (GT86), GR Supra, GR Yaris, GR Corolla and then a momentary generation of the Scion, called GR86.
At the end of May we presented the story of a resurgence of the MR2 of the Toyota coupe, which is the subject of many rumors. Thanks to new information, we discover that Japan’s most influential company will also bring back the Celica. But it is still unclear whether Toyota will resurrect those two icons with the same names. The car you see above is an electric concept called FT-Se that debuted at the Japan Mobility Show last October. While this is not a concept for a new MR2, it offers some styling touches for the new MR2, especially around its A and B pillars and its overall silhouette, given that the next generation of the MR2 is expected to feature a mid-engine .
This FT-Se concept offers clues as to what a next-generation mid-engine MR2 looks like.
The unexpected thing is that either of those cars will use the same engine, and no, we repeat, those two cars will have electrification, which of course means that they will not have an electric motor. No hybrids. Natural gas engines only.
The MR2 will use a 2. 0-liter turbocharged engine fixed in the middle of the engine, while the Celica will insert that same engine in the front under the hood, generating 400 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to get you from 0 to 60 mph in about four seconds, especially since the MR2 is rumored to hit the market weighing just over 2,860 pounds.
This is a first-generation MR2 introduced in 1984.
Now, while the MR2 and Celica may not use the GR Yaris and GR Corolla’s popular 1. 6-litre turbo, they will incorporate the Corolla’s rally-optimised 4WD GR-FOUR formula for grip and safety, and offer a 6-speed engine. Two-speed manual option and 8-speed automatic transmission.
For the record, the Celica was first introduced in 1970 and went through seven generations before production stopped in 2006. It was a popular style and the Celica Liftback GT won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year title in 1976. Meanwhile, the MR2 debuted in 1970,1984 and progressed through 3 generations before discontinuing production in 2007. The second generation, introduced in 1989, was nicknamed “poor man’s Ferrari” due to its Ferrari 348-like lines.
With a mid-to-2026 launch window, the next-generation MR2 will be built through Toyota’s in-house tuning arm, GRMN (which stands for Nurburgring’s Gazoo Racing Meister) and will be presented in limited quantities for around 10 million yen or around $65,000, while the Celica will be built through Toyota and will hit dealerships for around 6. 5 million yen or $42,000.
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