The march of AE86s coming out of the woodwork continues. Now what could very well be the lowest-mileage Toyota Corolla GT-S left in the world has surfaced in Waxhaw, North Carolina. With just 14,500 miles on the clock, this USDM version of the famed AE86 could very well be the holy grail for the right Hachiroku fiend.
So how did the most sought-after drift missile in the world survive three decades without being turned in to a Formula D casualty? According to the seller, it spent most of the last 30 years in a California dealership. It was never registered until the current owner brought it to North Carolina.
However, before it was registered, it spent some time as a track car. There’s a host of TRD suspension parts and a Magnaflow exhaust currently on the car. Sadly, it once had a roll cage too, and thus left some holes (though no mounting plates were welded to the floor).
As a 1987 model, it was one of the very last Corolla GT-S liftbacks built. In fact, only the 2-door coupe was supposed to be available that year (the liftback never shows up in the official brochure), so this was likely a leftover from 1986, though it has a 1987 VIN attached to it.
There are a few things that would need to be rectified to get this car back to stock. As a kouki model, it should not have a spoiler. The bumpers should be red to match the car, and the rear is from a JDM car. It also needs a host of OEM decals (the white ones on the car look close, but are not OEM).
None of these should pose a problem for the dedicated restorer. Even the holes in the body created by the spoiler and the roll cage can be easily patched up by a metal specialist for a few hundred bucks. What’s important is that the AE86’s notoriously brittle interior plastics all appear to be in tact on this car. Those are the most difficult parts to find these days.
If it were up to us we’d do that, fix the paint while retaining as much of the original 3E6 red as possible, and source an OEM exhaust and snowflake wheels. We’d keep the TRD bits — which include shocks and springs, camber top-mounts, adjustable lateral bar, front and rear sway bars, and a strut tower brace — as they are period correct performance parts, but acquire the original suspension components for backup.
With the AE86’s reputation as the godfather of drifting and the Japanese General Lee, there’s a whole generation of fans who hold this car in the highest of regard. Plus, it has the rarity of being one of the few 1987 liftbacks and there’s that sweet ‘n’ low odometer reading to boot. At a $19,000 BuyItNow, this is one of those cars that we wouldn’t be surprised to see crossing the block at Monterey a few years from now. See the auction on eBay.
Thanks to Abraham D. for the tip.
This one is worth a kidney !!
Do I need both kidneys?
If I can still snowboard with one kidney. Then I give one for the car
I read the comments on the BaT article. Some good points are made. Not very nice points, but good points which bring the $19k ask into question.
I don’t think they realize how rare it is.
Nice Find Ben! Yeah that looks really nice. By the way, did you see the all original ae86 GTS at JCCS? It will be at the Street Neo Classics show Oct.18. Hope to see you there.
I did. We’re not done with JCCS coverage yet :).
I wonder how legitimate the mileage is. If I were to see this car in person, I would like to check if the car has been repainted, if the fenders/arches have been rolled and if this is the engine that came with the car. The zenki wing, rear JDM bumper and aftermarket decals are red flags for me. The zenki wing was either installed by drilling holes in the hatch door or the hatch door was completely replaced with a zenki one that came with a wing. I wonder why the rear bumper was replaced and why the front USDM bumper was painted black. I would presume that the original red paint on the bumpers would have been in similar good condition as the paint on the car. The kouki stickers are still available from Toyota so the quality of the restoration, if it was restored, is questionable because the owner went the cheaper and easier route by putting on aftermarket low quality decals. If I were to pay that much for an AE86, it better be close to perfect.
“Track Car” screams red flag to me. As we all know, Drifters love wrecking shit and further depleting the already limited pool with their stupid antics.
Why don’t Drifters use other cars like the Miata or the 350Z’s rather than 240SX’s and AE86’s?
My Ae86 has 41k miles on it at the moment, I bought it with 33k miles from a junkyard where the original owner took it in because he was too old to drive.
In my hindsight, I regret modifying it with JDM bumpers, a roll bar etc.
The motor is still stock & very healthy. So if I do decide to go through my quarter life crisis I can always revert with minimal effort back to original.
This car has been up on the bay for a few weeks now and had its time to shine on nearly every major car sale reblogger. don’t forget that cars are only worth what someone will pay and I think it is clear that the AE86 just isnt at the point where a head-scratching example like this can fetch just under $20k.
Id say that an absolutely pristine one owner car of similar miles but presented in a more stock configuration and without the track history could be worth the money but nice as this car looks it seems a little fishy.
Its far from being the lowest mileage AE86…
22 miles and a proper racecar: http://www.speedhunters.com/2009/02/car_feature_gt_gt_team_chowini_ae86/
I said lowest mileage Corolla GT-S. 🙂 But what I should’ve also said was lowest mileage stock GT-S, since mileage only matters if it’s original (or close enough to it that you could reverse the mods).
Theres an ae86 in japan with 30miles on it still has plastic on the seats and on the carpet & paper.
This is probably top10 in miles