Japanese motor manufacturer, Toyota, created a series of sports cars, christened the Celica in the early 70s. Based on the Spanish word calico, the car stands for being a “heavenly” or “celestial” vehicle on the road.

The car, as per Toyota’s tradition, initially used Toyota’s custom manufactured inline-4 cylinder engines, specifically crafted to deliver higher performances. Certain variants were manufactured by Toyota for meeting the demands for a low performance, high fuel efficiency standard car by consumers. The first generation Celica, a design inspired from the Toyota’s 2000GT supercar, was launched in October, 1970 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The first three variants were the LT, ST and GT. The LT featured a low-end 2T carbureted four-cylinder 1600 cc engine; the ST packed a twin Solex-carburetor 2T-B engine. The GT was powered by a top-end 2T-G DOHC twin-Solex carbureted 1600 cc engine. In 1978, the second generation Celica was first introduced in Japan with three variants housing either of the 1.6 L, 1.8 L or 2.0 Liter engines. This edition was awarded the ''Import Car of the Year” award by Motor Trend in 1978, due to the advanced safety, power, and fuel economy offered as compared to previous editions.

The significant shift was seen in the Toyota Celica in 1986, from a rear-wheel drive to the front wheel drive. Other design modifications included, a rounded, flowing body and new 2.0 L 4-cylinder engines. The first four wheel drive editions were launched during the between 1986 and 1999. During the same period, the fifth generation Celica’s received an upgrade in the engine capacities in two variations; the, 2.0 L, 8 valve SOHC 2S-E engine generating 92 HP or the 116 HP 3S-FE DOHC engine in the 1987 edition. After a long journey of modifications and upgrades through 7 generations, the Toyota Celica has finally evolved and was christened, as the Toyota Celica Supra, later changed to Toyota Supra.