When The Legend Born You certainly already know the Toyota Celica, one of the car models made by the Japanese automotive giant Toyota. As we all know, this 2-door coupe was produced by the Japanese manufacturer from 1970 to 2006. It was also had used as a formidable racing car that fought to represent the Toyota brand in the World Rally Championship (WRC) from 1972 to 1986 by the rear wheels driven variant. And continued with the Celica GT-Four with 4WD at the WRC event from 1988 to 1999.
1969 Toyota EX-1 Prototype is debuted at the 1969 Tokyo Auto Show and known as the Celica forerunner. (Picture from: Club4Ag)
Alright, maybe some of you don't know the ancestors of Celica. As quoted of MotorTrend, the development of the legendary Toyota Celica car was started since 1969 by this Japanese manufacturer when they launched a unique prototype model called the Toyota EX-1 Concept with the highly raked front glass, long snout featured with the glass louvers in the front grill, and also stylized retracting door handles.
1969 Toyota EX-1 Prototype's design is so lithe and well-proportioned that viewers could mistake it for Italian descent. (Picture from: ToyHeadAuto)
When it first shown by Toyota, the prototype was said to pack a lot of high-tech goodies, such as an electrically raised and lowered rear deck spoiler, but never mentioned about its engine at all. It is only mentioned that the car was made by Toyota's research engineers to accommodate the front engine drive train. While the interior of the Toyota's 2-seater sports coupe features a driver-centric wraparound dash and instrument panel design, and there are other advanced electronic features.
1969 Toyota EX-1 Prototype is featured with the
highly raked front glass, long snout featured with the glass louvers in
the front grill, and also stylized retracting door handles. (Picture from: ToyHeadAuto)
The EX-1's design is so lithe and well-proportioned that viewers could mistake it for Italian descent, and we wouldn't be at all surprised if it wore an Alfa Romeo badge, and it could be that the Toyota's engineers were inspired by the Italian-made sports cars. You certainly remember that two years before Toyota launched its first legendary sports car, the Toyota 2000GT.
1969 Toyota EX-1 Prototypehas a unique roof mounted spoiler was raised and lowered electrically to increase stability at high speed. (Picture from: ToyHeadAuto)
This Toyota EX-1 Concept made its debut at the 1969 Tokyo Auto Show and, according to the Jap company's press release that came with this photograph mentioned that it is styled specifically for long-distance driving at high speed. So indeed since the first it was planned as the high-speed rally purposed vehicle and put convenience aside for styling priorities.
The
interior of the Toyota's 2-seater sports coupe features a
driver-centric wraparound dash and instrument panel design, and there
are other advanced electronic features. (Picture from: ToyHeadAuto)
Besides has a unique roof mounted spoiler was raised and lowered electrically to increase stability at high speed, in appearance the car has an almost similar design to the Celica model that was born about 2 years later, so it is not surprising that many people call it the forerunner of the Toyota Celica.
Since the beginning, 1969 Toyota EX-1 Prototype was planned as the high-speed rally purposed vehicle and put convenience aside for styling priorities. (Picture from: ToyHeadAuto)
Well, indeed the Toyota EX-1 prototype needed a lot of refinement to match the Japanese road regulations and dimensions, and the results only appeared on the first pre-production Toyota A20 Celica in 1971. After that the Celica became the choice of many families in Japan as their first sports car, because it has a much cheaper price than other cars that have existed before such as the Nissan Fairlady Z and others.
Because of that, the Celica skyrocketed and gained instant popularity as an affordable stylish coupe. So after that the Toyota Celica model continued to be developed up to 7 generations which were produced until 2006. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SORCES | TOYHEADAUTO | CLUB4AG | MOTORTREND | CARSTYLING.RU ]
Because of that, the Celica skyrocketed and gained instant popularity as an affordable stylish coupe. So after that the Toyota Celica model continued to be developed up to 7 generations which were produced until 2006. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SORCES | TOYHEADAUTO | CLUB4AG | MOTORTREND | CARSTYLING.RU ]
