The Toyota AE86: 40 Years of a Cult Icon

From 1983 to 1987, Toyota marketed a different breed of its fifth generation (E80) Corolla. Globally, the car is known as the Toyota AE86, which was also Toyota’s internal code and differentiated the 1.6-litre rear-wheel drive model from the fifth generation of the Corolla. Many JDM enthusiasts would agree that the AE86 became a cult icon after production had finished and remains one today.

In Japan, the AE86 was sold as the Toyota Sprinter Trueno and as the Toyota Corolla Levin, both of which were available in two-door coupe and three-door hatchback body styles. Toyota clearly thought the names should represent the AE86’s personality, which drivers would come to love. Therefore, Levin derives from the Middle English for lightning, and Trueno derives from the Spanish word for thunder.

Credit: Toyota GB

Japanese buyers had to order Sprinter Trueno or Corolla Levin versions through two different kinds of Toyota dealership. This meant that the Sprinter Trueno, notable by its pop-up headlamps, was sold through the Toyota Auto Store, while the Corolla Levin, identifiable by its fixed headlamps, was exclusive to the Toyota Corolla Store.

In the US the AE86 was sold in both body styles, while in Europe things were even simpler as it was only sold in three-door ‘coupe’ hatchback form, marketed as the Toyota Corolla GT Coupe and only available with fixed headlamps. But with Toyota franchised dealers also selling the popular and sharply styled MR2 and Supra models at the same time, the AE86 slipped under the radar of most UK buyers, not realising how iconic and desired the AE86 would become today.

The AE86 was fitted with a ‘4A-GE’, all-aluminium, 1.6-litre, 16-valve, twin-cam engine developing 130bhp, with rear-wheel drive. It also featured all-round disc brakes, coil springs at the rear, MacPherson strut suspension at the front, a live rear axle with four link longitudinal location and Panhard rod – plus a limited-slip differential. However, it was built at a time when large engined, front-wheel drive hot hatchbacks had piqued the interest of most car enthusiasts. Surely it was the wrong car for the wrong time then?

Wrong. The AE86 had success in both European touring car racing and in the UK, where it won the 1986 British Saloon Car Championship (BSCC), as well as the 1987 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at the hands of racing driver Chris Hodgetts. It also found success in other forms of professional motorsport such as Group A rallying, where it won the 1984 RAC Rally in Wales, along with other successes in Group N and Club racing.

But it was in drifting where the AE86 really shone, perhaps more famously from being featured in early 3D computer video games and two types of Japanese comic book, known as manga and anime. ‘Initial D’ was both a manga and anime comic series which ran from 1995-2013 and focused on illegal Japanese street racing on mountain passes.

Initial D became incredibly popular due to the editorial supervision from professional race car driver and drifting pioneer, Keiichi Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya who became known as Drift King, honed his skills in his AE86 Sprinter Trueno later in life, when he was able to afford to race. It’s very likely that Takumi Fujiwara, the main character in Initial D, was based on Tsuchiya when considering the input he had in the series.  

Initial D was later developed into anime television, Japanese animated films, and even a live action movie in the mid-2000s. Also thanks to the English-language distribution of both the manga and anime series, 55 million copies of Initial D were sold, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history.

Despite becoming a hit virtually from the mid-90s as a drifting icon, including in video games such as Gran Turismo, the AE86 was just as great in the real-life drifting scene too. As a result, it’s still held in high regard with car enthusiasts all over the world today. US publication Road & Track even went as far as calling the AE86 ‘a cult icon, inextricably interwoven with the earliest days of drifting.’

Let us know in the comments below your memories and experiences of the Toyota AE86.