On paper, Latvala’s rally car isn’t new, as it’s a 1992 Toyota Celica ST185. However, in practice, the car has been entirely rebuilt.
Latvala confirmed on Monday that he will compete in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship next year with his newly rebuilt pride and joy. He shared the news during Toyota’s announcement of its WRC driver line-up for the upcoming season.
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Latvala, who serves as Toyota’s team principal, also unveiled the car in Japan, where the WRC season finale took place last weekend. The Toyota Celica features a livery matching the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally1 cars.
Check out the video of Latvala’s new car below.
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“To be able to build ever better cars, you need to know the past. You need to understand the heritage that you can invent the future,” Latvala says in the video.
Latvala announced in late summer that his dream was to compete in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship with a Celica ST185. Later in the autumn, the FIA confirmed rule changes for the championship, allowing Latvala’s newly rebuilt Celica to be eligible.
“That was a great update. Now cars from those years are included. I’ve been building the Celica ST185 myself, so it’s essentially brand new. I’ve driven a similar car in Finnish championship events, but now we’ve built a new one specifically designed for tarmac rallies,” Latvala enthused in October to RallyJournal.com.
“It’s similar to the car Juha Kankkunen drove in 1993. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for technical regulations, such as restrictor rules and how the classes will be divided.”
Latvala has recruited Janni Hussi as his co-driver for next season. Due to his driving commitments, Latvala will have to skip a few WRC rallies. To fill in, Toyota has hired four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen as assistant team principal.
