Ryan Tuerck’s 1994 Toyota Celica GT Rally Throwback Is A 600 Horsepower Beast

Ryan Tuerck is best known as a professional drifter, but he’s also known for some incredible builds for the sake of creating awesome cars. His latest is known as the Toyota GT411, a stock 1994 Toyota Celica that is being transformed into a 600-horsepower homage to Toyota’s golden era competing in the World Rally Championship.

Tuerck currently competes with a Papadakis Racing-built Toyota GR Corolla in the Formula Drift series, so it’s no surprise the finished project will be powered by a fully built version of Toyota’s modern G16E 1.6-liter, three-cylinder engine. He expects it to make between 600 and 700 hp when finished and fully tuned.

Nostalgia Is The Big Ingredient

“I’m a big fan of the 1990s era of the World Rally Championship,” says Tuerck. “It is how I first learned about the WRC and JDM Toyotas and it’s one of the reasons I love Japanese cars. The car has a ways to go before it will be 100 percent ready for action, but I can’t wait to get it out on gravel and launch it over jumps.”

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Although it’s not quite finished, Tuerck debuted the car via the Supertech Performance booth at the Performance Racing Industry Show in Indianapolis.

To complete that full modern rally race car drivetrain experience in a 1990’s WRC suit, the Toyota GT411 uses a Supertech Performance valvetrain, MoTeC electronics, and, most importantly, a Hollinger sequential transmission.

Toyota’s Legendary Celica WRC History

The car is based around the rally cars piloted by the rally legends Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, and Didier Auriol, who took driver’s titles in 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively. That’s three top-tier drivers with three remarkably different driving styles that melded with the same car – a rarity to this day. In 1993 and 1994, Toyota took the manufacturers’ titles. The ST185 generation made around 300 hp in rally spec, at least half the amount Tuerck’s modern throwback will make.

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Tuerck has a YouTube channel that charts his builds, which started with the Toyota GT4586 project. That was a bananas drift car mashup of a Toyota GT86 crossed with a Ferrari 458. Since then, Tuerck has created an A90 Supra powered by an F1-derived V10 Judd engine known as Formula Supra, and a custom 1960s Toyota Stout pickup truck with 3D printed fenders and over 600 hp on tap.

So far, Tuerck’s YouTube channel is eight episodes deep into the Toyota GT411 build. It won’t be a competition car but will be seen all over the place in demonstration events on closed courses. He’s a consistent character on the enthusiast event circuit, so chances are the GT411 will show itself at places including GRIDLIFE, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Winter Jam, and Pro Bro Down.