Toyota recently filed a trademark for the GR Celica nameplate, hinting at the sports car legend's exciting return.

Toyota is preparing to bring back the Celica, and it seems like a high-performance variant could be part of the plan.

The revival of the iconic Toyota Celica may be closer than ever, fuelled by a recent trademark filing in Brazil by Toyota. This filing, dated January

The news comes by way of Australia’s Drive, which located the trademark application that was filed last month. The filing, Process Number 937665010, has yet to be accepted by the Brazilian government, as it's awaiting an opposition filing deadline. That said, there’s no real reason to assume that the automaker won’t be awarded the trademark.

The longest-running sports car nameplate in Toyota's history, the Celica holds great significance for many Japanese sports car enthusiasts. The model's production run spanned seven generations between 1970 and 2006,

Toyota recently confirmed plans to launch a brand-new Celica, and it appears that a GR variant of the upcoming sports model could also be in the making

Toyota first launched the Celica in 1970. The first-generation car was a two-door hardtop coupe that was stylish by the standards of Japanese cars at the time, it was also sporty. It was a sort of Toyota response to the Mustang, arriving when the pony car's trajectory was on the rise.

Japanese car giant Toyota has filed to trademark the GR Celica nameplate in Brazil, representing another step towards the return of the popular nameplate. Toyota submitted the trademark filing to Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property and Ministry of Economy on January 15,