Displayed at the October 1970 Tokyo Motor Show and marketed in December of the same year, the Celica was a personal car that emphasized styling and driving enjoyment. Japanese models were originally ET, LT, ST, and GT. The platform was shared with the Toyota Carina, a vehicle exclusive to Toyota Store Japanese dealerships. The Celica filled a market position previously held by the 1965–1969 Toyota Sports 800, when Toyota Corolla Store locations were previously known as Toyota Public Store, then renamed in 1966 as Toyota Corolla Store.

The Japanese GT models had various differences from the ET, LT and ST including the hood flutes, power windows, air conditioning, and specific GT trim, but shared a few things with the ST – a full-length center console and oil pressure/ampmeter gauges while the LT had warning lights for these functions. With the exception of the American market, the GT had a twincam engine (1600 cc 2T-G or 2000 cc 18R-G, not available on the ET, LT or ST) and always had 5-speed manual gearboxes. For the American market only, the GT had only a single cam engine (2000 cc 18R or 2200 cc 20R) with a choice of automatic or manual gearboxes.