<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Following the impressive finale to the 1986 season, the AAR/Toyota team started 1987 as joint favourites with Roush Racing, who fielded V8-engined Ford Mustangs. Poor reliability still proved a problem in the season opening long distance races, although Chris Cord and Steve Millen did manage to finish second in class at Daytona. Cord bounced back at Riverside, winning the GT race outright. He won again at Laguna Seca, Portland and Del Mar, while his team-mate Willy T. Ribbs took victories at Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta and Summit Point. Cord was crowned driver's championship and the team won the manufacturers crown.
Rule changes ahead of the 1988 season included a tighter air restrictor for turbo engines and a weight penalty of 100 lbs for turbo cars. This prompted Gurney to reserve almost all his efforts on the GTP car that had already been commissioned by Toyota, and would become one of the most successful racing cars of all time. The Celicas were nevertheless raced, and a further five victories were scored in 1988. Considering the limited resources used that season, the results were very impressive but not quite enough to keep the Roush Racing team and their new, turbo-charged Ford Merkurs from the championships.
From 1989 all of AAR's and Toyota's attention was focused on the prototype Toyota-Eagle and the Celicas were not raced again. Although raced for the better part of three season, usually with a two-car effort, AAR only built three examples of the tube-frame Toyota Celica Turbo GTO. At least one of these was sold to a private collector while Toyota North America also retains a car that has recently been restored to full running order by the same people that had built it two decades earlier. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Following the impressive finale to the 1986 season, the AAR/Toyota team started 1987 as joint favourites with Roush Racing, who fielded V8-engined Ford Mustangs. Poor reliability still proved a problem in the season opening long distance races, although Chris Cord and Steve Millen did manage to finish second in class at Daytona. Cord bounced back at Riverside, winning the GT race outright. He won again at Laguna Seca, Portland and Del Mar, while his team-mate Willy T. Ribbs took victories at Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta and Summit Point. Cord was crowned driver's championship and the team won the manufacturers crown.