Toyota is Definitely Cooking Something Up
Over in Japan, something very interesting was spotted doing hot laps around Fuji Speedway. It appeared to be a collection of parts and panels hobbled together to form a mid-engined coupe. But this isn’t some random parts bin special made in someone’s backyard. What you’re looking at could well be Toyota‘s next performance coupe.
It doesn’t look like it’ll be the successor of the GR86, either, given the position of the engine. Instead, this could well be the test mule for the revived Celica or MR2. It’s one heck of a spot, and it pretty much confirms how serious Toyota is with ramping up its sports car portfolio.
You_SuiKoyoAZ/X
MR2 or Celica?
It’s no secret that there are plans to revive the Celica and MR2. A few years ago, Toyota showed the FT-Se concept during the Japan Mobility Show. Sure, it was electric, but the MR2 DNA was shining through. Later on, Toyota confirmed the return of the Celica, and chairman Akio Toyoda even said there’s a good reason why he brought in rally champion Juha Kankkunen for a special project. Kankkunen is a three-time World Rally Championship title winner, and his last one was with, you guessed it, a Celica.
The car was spotted by Twitter/X user @You_SuiKoyoAZ from the Fuji Speedway Museum Cafe. Call it fate or an extreme stroke of luck, the photos and video provided have given the world a glimpse of Toyota’s future hot coupe. From the way it sounds, it sounds like it’s packing a hot turbo-four, most likely the G20E that’s currently in development.
So, why are we juggling between MR2 and Celica in this case? It’s easy to say it’s an MR2 because it’s mid-engined, and the name has been registered, fueling speculation it’ll be revived soon but Toyota also isn’t denying that it could bring back the Celica with its engine behind the front seats. Whatever it’ll be, this should be a pretty cool sports car.
ミュージアムのカフェにいたらなんかきた…!!
な に こ れ pic.twitter.com/T9TMktQEnz— ∬なのぽよ∬🧪🗿 💬🔁💙 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩→？ (@You_SuiKoyoAZ) July 22, 2026
Progress so Far
Toyota is still in the middle of developing its new G20E engine, and has been shaking it down in actual competition in Japan’s Super Taikyu Series. So far, the company has admitted there have been teething pains, but progress has been steady so far. At the same time, it’s been using a GR Yaris as its testing bed for a mid-engined platform.
The spotting of this test mule hints that Toyota is moving forward with its planned sports car. It’s still a long way to go, though, and this is far from the final shape of the car. But with the way things are going at the moment, we could see the finished product before the end of the decade.
走行動画 pic.twitter.com/5LxZVE7FCC
— ∬なのぽよ∬🧪🗿 💬🔁💙 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩→？ (@You_SuiKoyoAZ) July 22, 2026
Cole Attisha Using Gemini 3 Pro and Midjourney 7.0
