Once upon a time, the Celica nameplate was an established rear-wheel-drive sports car in Toyota's lineup. Even the original Supra was just an upgraded Celica, way before it evolved into the legendary Mk4 Supra with its 2JZ-GTE engine or the new Mk5 BMW... er... Toyota GR Supra generation. There was even an all-wheel-drive Celica rally car that was dominant in competition before it was caught running one of the most ingenious cheats ever conceived. But by the turn of the millennium, as with so many former greats, the Celica had transformed into a cash-grab front-wheel-drive commuter car with angular styling and little in the way of panache. But now, a peculiar build out of Japan has brought the final Toyota Celica generation back to its roots by performing a rear-wheel-drive swap to convert the little coupe into a legit drifter.

Under The Hood

RWD Swap Toyota Celica 2
via Facebook

In a series of posts from Crossbred Heart on Facebook and a website translated from Japanese by Google Chrome, this Celica comes together as a radical project that clearly required a ton of knowledge, skill, and dedication. Under the hood, the car's original 1.8-liter inline-four has been turned 90 degrees from a transverse to a longitudinal orientation. Of course, that kind of modification requires work on a ton of parts, especially the intake system and exhaust, not to mention a custom front subframe from a JDM Toyota Auris, which also lent some tie rod ends and rear four-wheel-drive hubs.

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The Swap Gets Better

RWD Swap Toyota Celica 3
via Facebook

The transmission is a six-speed from a Toyota Altezza and required a custom bellhousing, as well as the extensive reworking of what became the transmission tunnel. The Altezza also donated a rear limited-slip differential and 4.30 gearing. The differential housing has been mounted in a Toyota Premio subframe. All told, the project certainly looks like a ton of work — the why behind how this build got started remains something of a mystery, however.

Sources: facebook.com and bcr32.com.

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