2 min read •
16 de novembro de 2014
Toyota Celica GT4 - the most successful
by
Antonio Eiras
The ST185, second of the GT –Four’s, was the car that got the biggest successes for the Japanese constructor.
The first prototypes were built in December 1988, and the production began in Japan in the next summer. The vast majority of the 5,000 units produced, was destined for the European market.
Its monocoque chassis, constructed of steel, received new, independent McPherson type suspension and an engine of the Type 3S-GTE, which was an evolution of the power unit of its predecessor, with a higher compression rate, which enabled him, in the street version, to produce a torque of 275 Nm at 3,200 rpm and reached 204 hp at 6,000 rpm.
The premiere in the World Championships was in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1992 and the first victory came in the same Year’s Safari Rally, with Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya. The successive triumphs in New Zealand, in Catalonia and in RAC, led the Spaniard to the conquest of the 2nd Drivers World Championship.
The next year would be the turn of the Finnish Juha Kankkunen to be crowned champion, with Nicky Grist as codriver and the ST185, seven times victorious in WRC races, got to Ove Andersson’s Team the first title of Manufacturers World Champion.
In 1994 Toyota repeated the triumph in Manufacturers title, with five wins and allowed the Frenchman Didier Auriol, with Bernard Occelli as codriver, to win the Drivers Championship. The French also drove the ST185 to the last victory in WRC races, in that Year’s San Remo Rally. The Japanese car would win, in the next year, the European Rally Championship.
The cutaway drawing has been the first order I had from Toyota Team Europe, at the request of its sponsor Castrol.
It was a particularly rewarding work, because the vast technical information that was provided to me by the team allowed me to conduct a highly detailed drawing. I used the airbrush technique in full potential, with minimal cuts and overlaying different layers in order to show all relevant technical details.