Toyota will race a GR Celica Rally1 in the 2027 World Rally Championship, the first time the Celica name has appeared on a Toyota since the last road car was built in 2006. Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg and Sami Pajari, the top three drivers in the 2026 standings, are the crews assigned to it. A second Toyota team will run a new GR Yaris Rally1 beside it.
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Technical director Tom Fowler told the rally site DirtFish that the two cars are mechanically identical and differ in bodywork, according to Carscoops. The confirmation applies to the race car only. A Celica road car has been reported, but Toyota has not confirmed one.
Toyota’s two-team line-up for 2027
Autosport reported that Toyota announced its 2027 line-up on Nov. 3 at its headquarters in Jyväskylä, Finland, a day after a groundbreaking for a new technical center at nearby Majajärvi. Toyota Racing will use the GR Celica Rally1 for Evans, the reigning champion, Solberg, the 2026 runner-up, and Pajari, who finished third. Gazoo Racing Toyota will field the 2027 GR Yaris Rally1 for Ott Tanak and Takamoto Katsuta on full programs and Kalle Rovanpera on a partial one.
Racer’s report says both cars follow the same new regulations with equal power and performance, and that homologation of both is due before the end of 2026. Evans said the new era would be very different from what the team has been used to, and Tanak called it a new start for everybody with a lot of unknowns. Racer adds that the new era allows up to six factory cars per rally, and that Toyota ran six days of rally simulation testing in central Finland in the week of the announcement. Details on the cars and their liveries are due before the season. Autosport adds that Sebastien Ogier will run a scaled-back program and will miss the Monte Carlo opener for the first time since 2011.
A Celica body on a GR Yaris package
Carscoops quotes Fowler describing the Celica and the Yaris rally cars as identical under the skin, with turbocharged 1.6-liter engines in both, and as treating the Celica mainly as a marketing tool. Carscoops also describes a filmed prototype with a lower nose, Corolla-style headlights, a wide grille, a hood vent, a roof scoop, boxy rear quarters and a large fixed rear wing. The cylinder count has not been confirmed. Fowler’s marketing-tool description is the most candid line in the coverage, because it frames the Celica as a way to put a famous badge on a car whose hardware matches the Yaris, which is how a single manufacturer can field two distinct looks without developing two separate cars.
The new rules explain why one manufacturer can run two shapes. They allow manufacturers to field more than one model, and Autosport’s summary of the final WRC27 rules describes a space-frame chassis with some Rally2 components, about 300 horsepower and a cost cap of 345,000 euros per car. Top Gear reports that the 2027 Rally1 rules aim to cut car costs by more than 50 percent, and that Toyota is reportedly using the savings to field more cars. Autosport’s rules summary also says Toyota was the only manufacturer known to be developing a car for the 2027 rules, and that homologation is granted only after a constructor officially registers for the championship, with a homologated car required to contest at least half the events in its first year.
From rally body to showroom: what stays unconfirmed
The nameplate has history on gravel and tarmac. Carscoops says the Celica raced in the WRC from 1972, and that the GT-Four won drivers’ titles in 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994. Autosport’s line-up report describes the GR Celica Rally1 as reviving a model prominent in the 1980s and 1990s that won titles in 1993 and 1994. The last Celica of any kind was built in 2006, which is why a revival is news even though the first product is a competition car.
Whether a road car follows is a separate question. Top Gear’s Greg Potts writes that Toyota did not explicitly confirm a production model, and cites Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima telling Top Gear at Le Mans earlier in 2026 that through motorsport activity Toyota would like to provide a better car. Carscoops relays reports of a front-engined, all-wheel-drive coupe with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making around 400 horsepower, with a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic.
Earlier in the year, CarExpert reported in February that Toyota had not officially confirmed the Celica name, and that Fowler had said the prototype test car was already running and had covered more than 2,000 kilometers. Toyota Australia declined to say whether the Celica would be built for sale locally.
What is firm is the 2027 race program and the name on the car. What remains open is whether a customer can buy a Celica, which Toyota has not answered.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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