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Toyota's first big-hitter was a curious design for a rally car, especially considering it's era. For two and half-years before it's debut, Audi had demonstrated the might of four-wheel drive. Even so, for some reason Toyota decided not to take advantage of Group B rules and produce a limited run of special 4WD cars but settled to a RWD design instead. On top of that, it featured a live rear-axle and front-mounted engine with just two valves per cylinder, making it look rather dated design on paper.
All in all, these constraints made it uncompetitive in European events. But, story does not end here. Besides having just two valves per cylinder, engine also had two spark plugs per cylinder, efficient crossflow cylinder head design, highly tuned fuel injection system and turbocharger. With just 0.8 - 0.9 bar turbo boost, engine gave out as much power than virtually same sized Audi quattro two-valve engine with 1.7 bar boost. Even with oversized rear tyres, this much power coupled with only rear wheel drive placed severe strain on the tyres.
On the other side of the coin, car's relatively simple design meant it was also reliable. Massive power output provided it very high top speed and so it was that Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo excelled where these qualities were in demand: long-distance rallies in Africa. It was so successful that it won all Safari and Ivory Coast rallies that Toyota entered from 1983 to 1986. This success paved way to TTE's rise to the very top.
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| Debut WRC event: | Finland 1983 |
| Best WRC result: | 1st by Bjorn Waldegard in Ivory Coast 1983
1st by Bjorn Waldegard in Safari 1984
1st by Juha Kankkunen in Safari 1985
1st by Juha Kankkunen in Ivory Coast 1985
1st by Bjorn Waldegard in Safari 1986
1st by Bjorn Waldegard in Ivory Coast 1986 |
| Rallies contested: | 8 | (works entries) |
| WRC starts: | 19 | (works entries) |
| Outright wins: | 6 | (wins to rallies ratio 75.0%) |
| Podiums: | 13 | (podiums to starts ratio 68.4%) |
| DNF's: | 6 | (DNF's to starts ratio 31.6 %) |
| Points scored: | 120 | (manufacturer championship points) |
| Avg points per rally: | 15.0 | |
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| Group and class | B |
| Engine |
| Location: | Front longitudinal |
| Turbo: | Yes |
| Cylinders: | 4 in line |
| Valves: | 8 |
| Bore x stroke: | 89.0 x 84.0 mm |
| Cubic capacity: | 2090 cc |
| Power: | 370 hp |
| Torque: | 360 Nm |
| Compression ratio: | 7.0:1 |
| Dimensions |
| Length: | 4284 mm |
| Width: | 1785 mm |
| Height: | 1310 mm |
| Wheelbase: | 2500 mm |
| Front track: | 1395 mm |
| Rear track: | 1385 mm |
| Weight: | 1040 kg |
| Transmission |
| Drive: | RWD |
| Gears: | 5 |
| Sequential: | No |
| Clutch plates: | 2 |
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Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo
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Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo - front
(Photo: Slowly Sideways / McKlein)
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Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo - side
(Photo: Slowly Sideways / McKlein)
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Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo - rear
(Photo: Slowly Sideways / McKlein)
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