The Toyota Celica GT4 - Part 2

Toyota was the first Japanese company that tried, and later succeeded, to beat European manufacturers in the World Rally Championship. Their Celica has gone through many mutations since it first took part in world class rallying back in 1988 in the Tour de Corse rally. As usual Japanese manufacturers come up with a new version of their cars every two years. This didn't seem to cause too many problems to Toyota Team Europe, the team that prepares the racing cars. There was always a period of adapting a new model to rally racing but this usually took less than three months.

The commercial versions of the Celica went through a number of updates starting with the original ST165 (1987-1989) going to the ST185 (the bio-design car, 1990-1992) and lastly the ST205 (1993-1999). The competition cars followed this evolution closely.

The first 4WD version (ST165) suffered mainly from heat problems not having enough air circulating in the engine compartment. This problem was partially fixed in the ST185 with the addition of an engine bonnet vent. The ST205 was the most accomplished version, aerodynamically speaking.

The Group A version of the Celica (ST205)

 

The Celica has been a hard to beat contender ever since its introduction in the WRC when it raced against the Lancia Integrale in 1989-90. Toyota won 38 WRC rallies and 2 WRC Championships ('93 and '94) with it.

The Toyota team was promised to success up to the Catalunya rally in 1995 when an FIA commissioner discovered a weird device in Didier Auriol's Celica ST205.
To limit the horsepower in rally cars the FIA has regulated the use of a turbo restrictor. This is device, resembling a tube, with a regulations specified dimensions fits in the turbocharger's air intake to limit the air flow and consequently the engine's output. Toyota engineers had mounted the restrictor in a way that it would slightly move from its original position, allowing more air into the turbocharger, when the car was running. This of course was prohibited and as a consequence Toyota was excluded from the World Rally Championship. Too bad for their drivers, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol and Armin Schwarz at the time, who declared they knew nothing whatsoever about the presence of such a device in their cars. No one ever found out whether the device came from Toyota Japan or from Toyota Team Europe. Either way each party must have known about its presence.

- Next -