Toyota Celica GT-Four in the WRC: ST165, ST185 and ST205, season by season

The GT-Four is the four-wheel-drive Celica. Toyota Team Europe (TTE) rallied all three versions in the WRC: the ST165 from 1988, the ST185 from 1992 and the ST205 from 1994.¹⁶⁴ Here is what the rules asked Toyota to build, what each car won and how the story ended in 1995. Wins and standings come from a rally results archive, checked against Toyota’s figures; titles and production numbers from Toyota and the FIA.

Homologation: how many cars Toyota had to build

After Group B was dropped, Group A became the top class in the WRC.¹⁵ A Group A car had to be homologated by the FIA, and that needed a production run: the FIA’s Appendix J for 1989 and 1992 asked for at least 5,000 identical cars built in 12 consecutive months,⁹¹⁰ the 1993 and 1994 editions for 2,500.¹¹¹²

The GT-Four RC was the homologation base for the ST185 rally car. Toyota launched it in Japan on 27 September 1991 with a water-to-air intercooler and a metal instead of a ceramic turbine;¹³ Toyota’s history site dates the release of the 5,000 cars to 1992.²¹ Toyota also sold it as the Celica GT-Four Carlos Sainz Limited Edition.¹⁵²² The 2,500 ST205s Toyota announced match the 1994 minimum exactly; their special equipment included a large rear spoiler and a bonnet air scoop.¹⁴

The forms also show how Group A treated turbo engines: the 1,998.2 cc engine counts as 1,998.2 × 1.7 = about 3,397 cc.¹⁸¹⁹²⁰ For the ST165 we found no Toyota production figure (no data; Toyota’s production records would be the place to look). Homologation is explained in our glossary.

Season by season, 1988 to 1995

The ST165, homologated from 1 May 1988, entered the WRC that year; its first win came at Rally Australia in 1989, with Juha Kankkunen.¹⁸¹⁶⁸ From 1989 to 1992 Toyota finished second to Lancia in the manufacturers’ championship four years running.²³¹⁶

WRC wins of the Celica GT-Four by season and model

ST165ST185ST205

19880

19891

19905

19916

199214

19937

19945

19951

In 1990 Toyota won five rallies, four of them with Sainz,¹⁶¹ who took the drivers’ title, the first for a Japanese-built car;²⁴ he sealed it at the Sanremo Rally.¹⁵ Björn Waldegård added the Safari, but Lancia still took the manufacturers’ title, 137 points to 131.²³ In 1991 Toyota won six times, five of them with Sainz, yet Kankkunen and Lancia took both titles.¹²⁵

The ST185, homologated from 1 January 1992, made its debut at Monte Carlo that month.¹⁹²² Sainz won four times with it, and Mats Jonsson won the Swedish Rally in an ST165;²²¹ Sainz sealed his second title at the RAC Rally.¹⁵ In 1993 Toyota won seven of the 13 rounds.²²¹⁶ Kankkunen’s win at Rally Australia in September made Toyota the first Japanese carmaker to win the manufacturers’ title, and his third place in Catalunya in November gave him his fourth drivers’ title.⁷⁶

In 1994 Toyota secured its second manufacturers’ title at the 1000 Lakes Rally, and Didier Auriol, with three wins in an ST185, became champion in November.¹⁵²²¹ The ST205 first appeared at Rally Australia, which that year counted only for the 2-litre World Rally Cup.¹⁵

Safari Rally: four wins in five years

Toyota had already won the Safari three years running with the Group B Celica Twin Cam Turbo (TA64), from 1984 to 1986.¹⁵ The GT-Four added these WRC wins:

• 1990: Björn Waldegård (ST165), on the GT-Four’s first Safari.⁸¹
• 1992: Carlos Sainz, the ST185’s first WRC win.¹⁵¹
• 1993: Juha Kankkunen, with Celicas in the first four places.²²¹
• 1994: Ian Duncan (ST185).¹⁵¹

In 1995 the Safari counted only for the 2-litre World Rally Cup.¹⁵²⁶ Yoshio Fujimoto won it in a Celica GT-Four (ST185),²⁶¹⁵ the first Safari win for a Japanese driver and, by Toyota’s count, the GT-Four’s fourth Safari win in a row and Toyota’s eighth in all.⁸

ST165, ST185, ST205: what changed

All three have the 2.0-litre 3S-GTE turbo engine and full-time four-wheel drive.^24212714 The road cars on sale in Japan, with Toyota’s figures for representative versions:

The ST185 had 40 PS more;²¹ the GT-Four RC also had laser-clad valve seats, a world first by Toyota’s account,¹³ and 235 PS in Japan.²⁸ For the ST205 Toyota fitted a larger turbo compressor, a bigger water-cooled intercooler and more intake valve lift, for 30 PS more, and an aluminium bonnet that saved about 8 kg.¹⁴ Its body was 1,750 mm wide;²⁷ the standard ST185 measured 1,690 mm and the GT-Four RC 1,745 mm.²¹²⁸

Every 3S-GTE output, with torque and the versions that used it, is on our engines page; compare the three GT-Fours side by side for size, weight and gearing.

1995: the turbo restrictor and the ban

A turbocharged Group A rally car had to breathe through a restrictor, 38 mm in diameter in the 1994 rules, and all the air feeding the engine had to pass through it.¹² In 1995 the ST205 won once, with Auriol on the Tour de Corse.¹³ At the Rally Catalunya in October, the Toyotas were found to have illegal turbo restrictors. Toyota admitted it, and the FIA World Motor Sport Council banned the team from the championship for 12 months.¹⁷ Toyota was stripped of all its 1995 points; it returned to the WRC in 1997 with the Corolla, which closed the Celica’s WRC chapter.¹⁶

Toyota counts four drivers’ titles in the WRC up to its 1999 withdrawal;⁴ all four, from 1990 to 1994, were won in a Celica GT-Four.⁷¹⁵

Frequently asked questions

How many WRC rallies did the Celica GT-Four win?

Thirty between 1989 and 1995: 13 with the ST165, 16 with the ST185 and one with the ST205, Didier Auriol’s win at the 1995 Tour de Corse.

Which drivers won the WRC title in a Celica GT-Four?

Carlos Sainz in 1990 and 1992, Juha Kankkunen in 1993 and Didier Auriol in 1994. Toyota also won the manufacturers’ title in 1993 and 1994.

How many GT-Four RCs did Toyota build for homologation?

Toyota said about 5,000 would be sold worldwide, 1,800 of them in Japan. In 1992 Group A required at least 5,000 identical cars built in 12 consecutive months.

Why was Toyota banned from the WRC after 1995?

Its Celicas ran illegal turbo restrictors at the 1995 Rally Catalunya. The FIA banned the team for 12 months, and Toyota lost all its 1995 points.