When Toyota realised that the Celica Twincam Turbo wasn't very competitive outside of Africa, Toyota Team Europe (TTE) started work on a new contender - a 600 horsepower Mk 1 MR2. The rally car was codenamed "222D" and was being developed for Group S and possibly Group B. A ground up tube chassis car was constructed. There were three produced, one with the engine mounted transversely with RWD, and two with the engine mounted longitudinally. One of these was RWD while the other was AWD using a custom gearbox manufactured by Xtrac. With 600+hp and AWD, the car resembled the MR2 in appearance only.
These were not true Group S cars however, as the Group S rules limited engine capacity to 1.2L. Instead they were hybrid Group B / Group S cars. One was designed for tarmac rallies, while the other was suited to gravel rallies. All three motors were turbocharged, and had a displacement of 2.0 L. While not known for sure, the engine could have been the either 4T-GTE as used in the celica rally car preceding it, or it possibly could have been the famous 503E used in the GTP cars.
It is rumored that one of these was given to a VIP to drive around during a recent WRC event in Germany. There are recent photos of both a black and a white MR2 assumed to both still be alive. I have read on other sites that 2 of the 3 were destroyed during testing. Who knows what's still out there? One member going by the name of Ralf claims to have spolen on the phone with Mr. Boetcher, the chief of TTE who told him during a telephone call recently that it is possible to buy this car, but he had no idea what it will cost.
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