Tag Archives: ae86
KIDNEY, ANYONE? 15k-mile Unmolested AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin GT Apex Coupe
A one-owner, unmolested 1984 Toyota Corolla Levin GT Apex Coupe has turned up for sale in Essex, UK. Hunted nearly to extinction due to the popularity of the chassis in drifting, this surviving example only has 15,000 miles. It also … Continue reading
TUNE UP: J Cole’s “Fire Squad” video features the sweet sound of AE86s revving and drifting
Rapper J Cole’s triple-platinum album 2014 Forest Hills Drive came out six years ago, but a previously unseen music video for the track “Fire Squad” was just released. It prominently features a pair of drifting Toyota AE86 coupes sending up … Continue reading
The legendary Toyota plant that built the AE86, Mark II, and Century is now closed
On December 7 Toyota held a closing ceremony for its Higashi Fuji plant. Today, all production lines will be shut down and the factory closed for good. The 53-year-old facility has produced some of Toyota’s most iconic models, including the … Continue reading
VIDEO: Keiichi Tsuchiya drifts a collector’s stock $37,000 AE86
The AE86 is a hot commodity now, with very nice examples selling in the mid-$20,000 range in the US. In Japan, however, cherry low-mileage examples have been commanding top prices for years. In 2017, Hot Version gathered a dream gathering … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: How Ikaten bridged illegal and professional drifting, with silver cephalopods
Drifting went pro in 2000 when the D1 Grand Prix series was founded. But long before D1GP, there was the Ikasu Hashiriya Team Tengoku (roughly translated to Ikasu Racer Team Heaven), an amateur drift series that bridged the era between … Continue reading
VIDEO: This is why there’s a drift tax
RIP to the fallen. If the video doesn’t work, click here.
Behold, Japan’s suddenly famous Drift Dog
Earlier this month, a video of a Japanese dog went viral when the owner filmed it running down the side of an irrigation canal. Its cuteness, plus the fact that it had kind of an angled gait, quickly garnered it … Continue reading
MINICARS: Lego should license this unlicensed Initial D AE86
In the old days unlicensed toys used to be somewhat janky, but in recent years in China, where manufacturing prowess and the wild west of intelletctual property law intersect, a lot of it has gotten quite good. Case in point: … Continue reading
VIDEO: In post-Maria Puerto Rico, cars still shine
Even though it’s about the size of Connecticut, and despite a devastating hurricane just two years ago, Puerto Rico has a thriving car scene. It’s downright amazing what enthusiasts on the small island territory are able to accomplish, considering the … Continue reading
Toyota revives the Black Limited 86
At the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, Toyota unveiled a close-to-production concept of a special edition 86 called the Black Limited. A throwback to one of the most desirable AE86 special editions of all time, it seemed to signal an … Continue reading
Toyota brought out stock and rally Celica GT-Fours to the GR Yaris debut
The Toyota GR Yaris seems like it will be an insanely awesome hot hatch, even if its connection to the Celica GT-Four is dubious. We said it smelled like a retcon, but we have to admit, when Toyota put all … Continue reading
Japanese Classic Car Show 2019: Upping the Game and Best in Show
We are 60 percent of the way to the point where the JCCS itself, if it were a car, would be eligible for classic status. In its 15 years in existence, the Japanese Classic Car Show has grown from a … Continue reading
SEMA 2019, Part 01 — Japanese Hot Rods
When there are 2,400 companies and 2.2 million square feet of exhibits, limits are constantly pushed in order to garner attention. It can result in show cars that are insanely expensive but absent of taste. Still, there can be gems … Continue reading
2019 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 — Awesome 80s
The 80s were a pivotal time in Japan’s automotive history, and the JCCS did not disappoint with a of turbocharged, retractable-headlight, angular-bodied machines.