Toyota's dominance in WRC celebrated with a 20th anniversary event.

The era of Toyota’s dominance in the World Rally Championship were recalled on Sunday (1 June) when the GT-Four Owners Club marked the 20^th anniversary of the Celica GT-four ST205, the last in a great line of competition-bred four-wheel-drive sportscars.

Around 50 cars gathered at the Prescott Speed Hill Climb in Gloucestershire and took the opportunity to demonstrate the Celica’s turn of speed and handling on the challenging course. Versions of the ST205, based on the sixth-generation Celica, were joined by the earlier ST165 and ST185 GT-Four models.

The ST205 was a true competition-bred car, developed with help from Toyota Team Europe, the then reigning World Rally Champions. The Celica’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-cam 16 valve engine was substantially modified with a larger, water intercooled turbocharger and reworked valves and ports, increasing maximum power to 239bhp. With permanent four-wheel drive, it could accelerate from nought to 62mph in 6.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 153mph.

It proved a winner at the highest level, driven by Didier Auriol to Toyota’s third successive WRC manufacturers title.

Toyota helped the UK owners club celebrate with a guest appearance from the Lexus LFA, a giant cake and commemorative GT-Four stickers. A prize draw for passenger rides up the hill climb in the LFA raised £400 for charity.

Ferdy Gottschall, committee member for the club said: “We would like to thank Toyota for their support. It’s not every manufacturer who would support a bunch of die-hard enthusiasts, but their contribution to the event  was fantastic, not least bring the LFA and giving members the chance of a once-in-a-lifetime passenger ride.”

Toyota at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Toyota will bring together four of its works Le Mans race cars at a single event for the first time at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in June. Charting the progress from the TS010 of early 1990s through to this season’s contender, the new TS040 Hybrid, which will be unveiled on 27 March, the gathering will provide a unique snapshot of how Toyota has consistently pushed the boundaries of race car design and technology.

Toyota Racing driver Anthony Davidson will be back at Goodwood, demonstrating the TS040’s speed and handling on the hill climb course on all three days of the festival. 

The original TS010, which campaigned in the 24-hour race in 1992 and 1993, will be joined by the svelte and formidably powerful TS020 – better known as the Toyota GT-One – one of the most advanced machines of its day. The first racing Toyota to be computer designed, it broke new ground with its carbon fibre monocoque chassis and twin-turbo V8 engine, delivering around 600bhp.

Toyota returned to Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012 with the TS030 Hybrid, a car which showcased how advanced hybrid power technology can successfully be applied to the highest levels of international motorsport. In two seasons of racing it garnered five pole positions and 10 podium finishes, including five race victories.

Toyota is still working to secure its elusive first Le Mans victory, and Toyota Racing has entered two of the new TS040 Hybrid cars for this year’s contest, as part of a full FIA World Endurance Championship campaign. The new car’s Festival of Speed debut will follow hard on its Le Mans debut over the weekend of 14 – 15 June.

There will also be a first festival appearance for Toyota Motorsport’s TMG EV P002, the mighty 470hp electric car. Race-prepared with help from Pikes Peak veteran Rod Millen, the open-cockpit car bettered the existing course best by more than two minutes, with Japanese driver Fumio Nutahara stopping the clock at 10:15.380. Watch a video of the TMG EV P002 on track here.

Away from the hill climb, the festival’s rally stage will welcome the Imperial Toyota Hilux that netted a class victory and fourth place overall in this year’s Dakar Rally in South America, piloted by Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz. 

These cars will be joined by more classics from Toyota’s long and successful race and rally heritage, entertaining the festival crowds on both the hill climb and rally course. Just as famous as the cars, some of the great names associated with Toyota international competition success will be taking the wheel, together with members of the current WEC squad. 

Already confirmed for the event are Björn Waldegård, master of the famed Group B Celica TA64 in the mid-1980s, and David Llewellin, who drove a Celica GT-Four to back-to-back British Rally Championship titles in 1989 and 1990.

More thoroughbred machinery will be on display in Toyota’s extensive festival pavilion, together with road-going and concept models that represent the latest in Toyota and Lexus design and technology. Further details will be announced in the lead up to the festival, which takes place in the grounds of Goodwood House, Sussex, from 26 to 29 June.