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Toyota Celica Turbo 4×4 “Carlos Sainz”

  • 1000km
  • Neuwagen
  • unbenutzt

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Toyota Celica Turbo 4×4 “Carlos Sainz” Limited Edition – 1993 Spanish driver Carlos Sainz was world rally champion in 1990 and 1992. Toyota celebrated this by releasing a limited edition (5,000 units) of its Celica, called “Carlos Sainz”.

This legendary high-performance sports car made the hearts of rally fans beat faster, and it laid the foundation for crowning the success story of the best-selling Asian sports coupé with a total of five World Championship titles: the Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD “Carlos Sainz Limited Edition”, presented in 1991, is an icon that is still sought after by collectors today and that brought motorsport to the road. Only 5,000 units of this fifth-generation Celica with powerful turbo and innovative GT-Four all-wheel drive system were built, and exactly 680 of them came to Germany. Today, one of these rare racers is one of the fastest highlights of the Toyota Collection, the unique vehicle collection on the premises of Toyota Germany.

It was a double premiere and for a double reason. Parallel to the new brute rally car with 221 kW/300 hp for the Toyota works driver and reigning WRC champion Carlos Sainz, a 153 kW/208 hp road version of the Celica Turbo 4WD made its debut as an exclusive edition at the IAA in Frankfurt in September 1991. With this, Toyota celebrated the first drivers’ world championship on a Celica (ST165) just won by Sainz and the second place in the manufacturers’ ranking. At the same time, the limited road-going Celica Turbo 4WD “Carlos Sainz” (ST185) – simply called Celica GT-Four RC outside Europe – guaranteed the homologation edition for the next WRC generation of the Toyota rally racer. At the beginning, however, no one had any idea of the vehemence with which the new Celica GT-Four WRC (ST185) was to write motorsport history. In an unforgettable and almost unprecedented series of three WRC drivers’ titles (by Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol) and two WRC manufacturers’ titles, as well as a total of 16 WRC victories in just three years, the Celica starting in white-green-red Castrol livery secured eternal legend status.

No surprise, therefore, that the Celica Turbo 4WD “Carlos Sainz”, which is unrestrictedly suitable for everyday use, was sold out in almost record time and remains a sought-after classic to this day. “For people who react quickly”, Toyota advertised this road sports car in 1991, which at that time cost a proud 63,400 marks, but whose innovative technology promised unique driving pleasure in this form. The sports coupé, based on the Celica Liftback, was already visually sharpened by striking details such as enlarged wheel arches for the directional alloy wheels of the then large 6.5 x 15 inch dimension and the unmistakable cowl on the bonnet, which optimised the discharge of the cooling air in the World Rally Championship version and was supplemented by a special air inlet for the cooling of the camshaft drive belt in the road version. An additional oil cooler was also not to be missed. And a standard sunroof ensured climate comfort for the crew of up to four in the “Carlos Sainz Limited Edition”.

Consistent lightweight construction down to the last detail was demonstrated by weight-optimised rear bumpers, while the sport suspension was fine-tuned with modified front wheel geometry, a reduced steering roll radius and increased rear wheel camber. This improved the cornering ability and straight-line stability of the 230 km/h racer. Keyword driving performance: Not only the Vmax, but also the value of 7.9 seconds for the sprint from zero to 100 km/h documented that the Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD “Carlos Sainz” was one of the most dynamic four-wheel drive sports coupés of its era. Even wilder were Celica GT-Four RC with 165 kW/225 hp available in some markets.

In Germany, the 153 kW/208 hp Limited Edition offered only three additional hp over the most powerful standard Celica, but the 2.0-litre 16V turbo four-cylinder got an enlarged 16-watt cooling fan and a water-cooled intercooler. Most importantly, however, it was Toyota’s GT-Four power-transmission package of permanent four-wheel drive with a Torsen limited-slip differential on the rear axle that gave the fastest Celica an edge on the road and track. To achieve this, Toyota had revised the central differential with Visco clutch, as well as the front and rear limited slip differentials to optimise the response of the variable power distribution.

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Auction started 28. July 2023 20:00

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