As it transpired, the ‘87 season was dominated by Lancia’s Delta HF 4WD. The all-wheel drive Delta had not been conceived with competition in mind, rather, circumstances conspired it was simply the best Group A package around at such short notice.

Meanwhile over in Japan, Toyota had not been deterred from mounting a serious World Rally Championship attack, but unlike Lancia the Japanese firm did not have a suitable platform waiting in th wings.

What they did have in the pipeline though was a four-wheel drive version of the fourth generation Celica, a Convertible prototype of which had been displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1985.

At that stage, no thought had been given to producing a competition version of the all-wheel drive Celica, but things immediately changed when the FIA dropped their Group B / Group S bombshell in mid ‘86.

Accordingly, Toyota went into overdrive to have a four-wheel drive Celica in showrooms by the end of 1986 with a view to challenging Lancia for the 1988 season.

The resultant Celica GT-Four (internal model code ST165) was presented at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1986 and production got underway that same month for the 1987 model year.

Based on the critically acclaimed front-wheel drive normally aspirated ST162 Celica GT, the GT-Four most notably featured permanent four-wheel drive, a turbocharged engine, ABS brakes and a few minor cosmetic tweaks.

Initially produced for the Japanese Domestic Market, assembly took place at Toyota’s Tahara plant in Aichi Prefecture.