TOYOTA CELICA GT-FOUR

Foreword
Introduction
The car and the team
Inspiration
The Celica GT-Four’s importance in rallying
The Celica GT-Four’s home ground
Facing up to rival cars
Homologation – meeting the rules
Engineering features
Motorsport development, and improvements
Was the Celica GT-Four unique?
Building and running the works cars
Personalities and star drivers
Competition story
The works Celica GT-Four’s career
Past its best? Which rivals took over?
World/major European rally wins
Victories in British international rallies
Index

Features

• Full detailed history of the Toyota Celica GT-Four’s rally career
• Complete story of concept, design and development
• Unrivalled coverage of people and influences behind the cars
• Step-by-step account of technical evolution
• Description of cars: why, how and when evolved
• Details of principal people involved
• Packed with pictures
• Comparison with rivals
• Complete listing of important successes and works Celicas
Description

This book describes the birth, development, and rallying career of the Toyota Celica GT-Four, providing a compact and authoritative history of where, when and how it became so important to the sport.
Synopsis

This is a comprehensive study of the career of the Toyota Celica GT-Four. Starting in 1988, three generations of this effective turbocharged four-wheel-drive car – known by enthusiasts as ST165, ST185 and ST205 types – fought for World Championships, and were amazingly successful for almost a decade.

All types combined high-performance, great reliability, and superb preparation by Toyota Team Europe (based in Cologne, Germany), their 300bhp/four-wheel-drive chassis package being among the best in the world. Over the years, the cars won some of the roughest events in the world (such as the Safari and the Acropolis), and were also supreme on tarmac, snow and ice, including Monte Carlo.

After fighting a running battle with Lancia for years, the Celicas won the World Manufacturers’ Championship twice. Its famous drivers included Carlos Sainz (World Champion in 1990 and 1992), Juha Kankkunen (Champion in 1993) and Didier Auriol (Champion in 1994).

Never far from controversy, and at times embroiled in technical and regulatory disputes, these cars brought real glamour to the colourful sport of rallying, and were only replaced by an even higher-tech Toyota – the Corolla World Rally Car – in 1997.
Additional Information

Period covered: 1988 – 1997