[2][3] The A20 Celica was built to compete against the Porsche 935s that had dominated international motorsport and also the Division 1 of the German DRM series for Group 5 cars.
[4] The Celica's distinctive features are its wider body sills in front of and behind the door panel and sloping nose beyond the bonnet, which encases the double headlamps and square grille.
[4] To keep up with its competitions, Schnitzer used the Toyota 18R-G engine[5] from its production model with a specially designed 16 valve cylinder head and a Kugelfischer fuel injection system topped up with a KKK turbocharger.
[4] Partway through the 1978 season, as the Celica color scheme was changed from blue to red and white, revisions were also made to its bodywork to improve its aerodynamics.
[7] The Celica made its debut in the eighth round of the DRM series in Hockenheimring in July 1977, supporting the German Grand Prix.
[8] In 1979, the Celica was brought over to Japan by TOM'S to compete in the Fuji Super Silhouette Series by its company founder, Nobuhide Tachi.
[11][12][13] Retired in favour of their RA40 Celica that was developed in conjunction with Dome,[14] the car was later sold to Trust Japan in 1981, which then later reverted the front nose back to the original Schnitzer version configuration.
[15] Under Kaoru Hoshino, it retired on its first round at Fuji,[16] then finished ninth, six laps behind the winning Nissan Bluebird of Haruto Yanagida.
[15] Despite its limited success in the series in spite of its claim it "won the German National Championship in 1977" printed on its catalogue and its subsequent editions,[22] the DRM liftback was immortalised in several different versions.