Imported cars aren't unknown in NHRA competition, but they haven't been seen much lately. Think back (as if you were born in 1932 instead of 1986) to the Hemi-powered Fiat Topolinos and blown Ford Anglias that dominated Fuel Altered competition in the '60s. Or the Dodge Colts (which were really Mitsubishi Lancers) that Sox & Martin campaigned in Pro Stock during the '70s. Or just accept the fact that this is the 21st century and no one really gives a damn where a car is built any more.
So maybe it was no big shock when Dean Skuza appeared at February's NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., with a piece of fiberglass that looked vaguely like a Toyota Celica atop his funny car. While this "Celica" isn't the first imported body style to show up in professional funny car racing, this is the first time that such a body has been used with the blessing and aid of the manufacturer. That's right, it's a factory effort that put that body on that car.
With a 5,000-hp, nitro-swilling, 500-cu-in. V8 in its nose, this is the most powerful and quickest Celica ever. And if there's a single stock Celica part aboard the car, we'll lick the next nitro spill at Pomona up with our tongues.
Driver Scelzi comes to fuel Funny Cars alongside Toyota, moving to the division after winning three championships in Top Fuel. The team itself is owned by long-time Top Fuel campaigner Alan Johnson, who also happens to be one of the leading makers of fuel V8 cylinder heads. The driver and team are new to Funny Car, but they are more than capable of winning at this level.
At the Winternats, Scelzi qualified the Celica in 13th place with a 4.934-sec. e.t. at 306.40 mph and beat Tony Pedregon in the first round who ran 5.016 at 275.11 mph (that's slow in funny car terms). He spun his tires in next round of eliminations and lost to Ron Capps, whose car's owner, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, won Funny Car championships in the '70s while driving a car with a Plymouth Arrow body. And the Arrow, like the Celica, was built in Japan.
Will all the foreign manufacturers suddenly swarm into the NHRA's Powerade Drag Racing Series? We'll argue that they ought to first put their money into drag racing that's actually based on products they sell.
Other NewsToyota is rumored to be working on a new GT-S model of the Corolla four-door sedan that would utilize the 180-hp 1.8-liter, VVTL-i engine and six-speed manual transmission from the Celica GT-S. The rapid Corolla could show up as early as next year.
Filet Of MR2Alongside its supercharged, V8-powered Lexus IS at the Essen Motor Show, Toyota's TTE (Toyota's European performance division) showed this evil-looking version of the MR2 Spyder. With considerable mass removed and 255 hp available from the thoroughly turbo-blasted 1.8-liter VVTL-i dohc four, TTE thinks this rapacious hedgehog will top out at 155 mph. Whether the driver can stand that much speed while poking his head above the minimal windshield is open to speculation.
Production plans for this ludicrously impractical machine? Come on....