The Toyota 222D was intended to usher in a new era of competition in Toyota’s World Rally Championship (WRC) campaign. It was designed following new Group S regulations suggested by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), which aimed to boost the already renowned Group B rally vehicles to new heights.
In 1984, Toyota was approved to construct a new Group S-compliant machine to win the yearly WRC championship and improve public perception. Working under the codename ‘222D’, all work was completed by in-house teams to maximize knowledge acquisition.
Although Toyota’s current Group B rally car was based on the rear-wheel drive Celica, the development team decided on a mid-engine layout with all-wheel drive after considering the upcoming regulations. Fortunately, Toyota had recently released the first-generation MR2 - Midship Runabout 2-seater - therefore it was chosen as the best choice for conversion into a Group S vehicle.
According to sources within Toyota Japan, the MR2 mule was originally configured with a mid-mounted 1.6-litre engine and rear-wheel drive but was later modified to accept the turbocharged 2.0-litre engine and all-wheel drive running gear from the upcoming ST165 Celica GT-Four, which would not be released for another two years. The MR2 mule was installed with a double-wishbone front suspension, a five-link independent rear suspension, and a manual transmission.
The first Toyota 222D prototype was completed in February 1985 and a few months were spent evaluated in Japan and tested in Europe. Following these tests, the direction was provided in June 1985 to make more improvements, including engine placement, suspension stroke, tyre size, and a torque split mechanism that allowed the car to switch between two and four-wheel drive.
A target completion date of December 1985 was established. However, in September of that year, following several deadly crashes during the season, FISA opted to cancel the intended ‘rally supercar’ Group S standards in favour of stricter new Group A regulations. The goal was to minimize performance, and thus the likelihood of accidents, by adhering more strictly to production car platforms.
Although Group S regulations were not set to take effect until 1987, Toyota had spent considerably on the 222D project, which was nearing completion. Nonetheless, the sport’s governing body’s abrupt pivot forced the development team to terminate the project.
There are only two Toyota 222D development prototypes known to exist today. The black example is stored at Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany, while the white example is exhibited at the Toyota Mega Web showroom in Tokyo.
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