Any true car enthusiast will know of the Toyota AE86’s prowess in drift competitions and rally racing; but if you don’t, here’s a crash course: in 1986, a Toyota AE86 entered the European Touring Car Championship with a 150hp engine and trounced a BMW M6, a Mazda 929, a Mercedes 190E, an Alfa Romero 75, and many more vehicles – but its success didn’t end there.
The Toyota AE86 is also credited for playing a critical role in popularizing the sport of drifting. Keiichi Tsuchiya, a Japanese racing legend known as the “drift-king,” was also well known for throwing his AE86 into the curvy mountain passes of Japan. He, and many other Japanese drifters utilized the AE86’s low stance, rear-wheel drivetrain, lightweight construction, and balance to pave the way for the sport.
The AE86 has a long history in the motorsports scene, so you can see why we were excited when Toyota announced their plans to release the 2017 Toyota 86.
“For decades, icons like the 2000GT, Sports 800, and AE86 Corolla have cemented Toyota’s enthusiast cred, earning accolades on the racetrack and respect on the streets. We took this performance DNA to create our purest sports car yet. Say hello to the Toyota 86.”
Please, Toyota honchos; let those words ring true. Create a car for enthusiasts. Build it for the high schoolers who will tinker with it under their florescent garage lights in 10 years’ time. Build it for the die-hard drifters to throw sideways into the apex, leaving a white smokescreen in their wake.
But most of all, build it for Toyota. Don’t get us wrong, the Prius Prime is great, but you’re not fooling anyone with those commercials – it’s not outrunning the police anytime soon. We know the Toyota 86 probably won’t either, but we could see it drifting circles around them. How do you like them donuts?