Could this all-new Toyota rally car be the upcoming GR Celica?

We all know that Toyota Gazoo Racing has been a bit of a dominant force in the World Rally Championship, especially with the GR Yaris that’s been its main contender in the series since 2017, and that car has helped the team bag a whole bunch of championships and titles.

The 2027 season of the World Rally Championship introduces a whole slew of new technical regulations, and with that, Toyota Gazoo Racing is developing an entirely new vehicle, and it’s shaping up to be something very spicy.

Thanks to photos taken by Rallye Sport during testing in Portugal, a very aggressive two-door coupé was spotted flying around the dirt sections decked out in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s familiar red-black-white tricolor camouflage livery.

Toyota has long been teasing the revival of one of its legendary nameplates, and if you know your Toyota motorsports history, the Celica is one of the automaker’s most successful nameplates that’s been used in rallying, and was historically a two-door coupé with a turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive (at least in the GT-Four trims).

Toyota has also been developing a brand-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the G20E, and it’s designed a new high-output and compact engine that’s capable of producing at least 400 horsepower and above with some tuning.

It’s already been tested in motorsports applications (in the GR Yaris M concept), and this could find its way in many different form factors, be it mid-engined (MR2) or front-engined (Celica)

Of course, everything should be taken with a grain of salt, but there’s one thing for sure: We’re looking at a brand-new, ground-up vehicle built with a motorsports-first mindset.

^{Photos from Marcio Pereira (@RallyeSport on X), Sam Surla, and Julian Panlilio}