The 2022 Toyota GR86 is a great little sports coupe, simple, affordable, and offered with a better engine than its predecessor. However, there would be no FRS, 86 or GR86 without the original, the AE86.
And in turn, the AE86 probably would be famous without the manga and anime series Initial D. A small car with a small engine, piloted by a driving prodigy took on all the best Mazdas, Toyotas, and Subarus.
In a way, this underdog story takes the car from looking like a balanced but cheap 1980s Toyota to a supernatural force. That’s why Trueno bumpers or wheels are worth thousands of dollars, and why some AE86s sell for new Supra money on Bring a Trailer.
Anyway, we can’t overlook the fact that the AE86 is different from the modern GR86. No, we’re not talking about the pop-up headlights.
Instead, we want to point out that the AE86 was a normal, cheap car back in its glory days. Only the handling was special, not the performance, and it still had to be a regular hatch.
Bringing back some of that lost practicality, this rendering by Sugar Design makes the 2022 Toyota GR86 into a hatchback. This probably means you’ll have more space for spare tires when you go to the autocross track. But given the livery, this rendered car is more concerned with delivering tofu to a hotel at the top of the mountain.
Initial D and the history of the Toyota AE86
Initial D inspired a whole generation of car nerds to fall in love with JDM models. The show features pretty much every Japanese sports car, from custom RX-7s to Evos. The little Trueno is a main character, the classic underdog, but with four wheels.
Takumi, the actual hero of the story, is a kid in the 1980s. He delivers tofu to a hotel at the top of the mountain. And his company car with the famous white and black livery was basically just a Toyota Corollaโฆ a well-balanced Corolla, but still a Corolla.
Several things set the Initial D AE86 Trueno apart from the American Corollas. For starters, it’s got those thinner JDM bumpers and the Watanabe wheels.
Also, it’s RWD. In 1984, Toyota started making the front-wheel-drive Corolla. It was simple, efficient, and cheap. However, the Big T kept making the RWD Corolla on the side. The Trueno had the pop-up headlights, while the Levin came with fixed headlights, and each had its own dealer network back in Japan.