Two years ago at the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon, TOM’s announced a heritage car program to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Rather than factory-perfect restorations, the cars coming out of TOM’s Heritage are what the company calls “reconstructions” based on the Toyota tuner’s greatest hits. This year at TAS, they turned their attention to the iconic AE86.
TOM’s Heritage cars are meant to evoke the driving feel and spirit of the car’s tuning era but with updates that make them modern enough drive in today’s conditions. For example, the seats and sections of the door cards have been reupholstered with urethane fabric that maintains the original look, but is more durable. The steering wheel is a period TOM’s piece, immersing the driver into the 80s tuner heyday.
The engine, based on the NA1600 race motor which powered TOM’s AE86 and AE82 Corollas in the Japan Touringcar Championships, has been tuned for street use. The foundation is a five-valve 4AG sourced from an AE111. TOM’s rebuilt it with race-derived internals, and converted the ignition system from a distributor type to a direct injection type. The mass airflow sensor was also replaced with a manifold pressure sensor to allow for ITBs, and the original ECU replaced with a Link ECU to manage it all.
TOM’s offers three different stages of engine tune, an A Spec that refurbishes an old engine, while B Spec includes the refurbishment plus TOM’s parts for a turnkey tuned engine, and the top-end C Spec offers a completely custom-built engine based on the customer’s needs. On display at the TOM’s booth, a machined head served as an example of their work.
Some may remember the body-in-white shell that TOM’s displayed at last year’s Auto Salon. Unfortunately it came out around the same time a Chinese company announced reproduction AE86 bodies, leading some to assume it was one of those. But no, that was an original AE86 shell stripped and restored by TOM’s, with rust repair and reinforcements in key locations based on their many years of racing experience.
To improve downforce while keeping the AE86’s original lines, TOM’s developed underbody panels, as shown on this scale model at their Auto Salon booth. These can be affixed to the car to achieve ground effects and stable handling without marring the body with spoilers and skirts.
Finishing off the car is a TOM’s exhaust and revived 15-inch TOM’s Igeta wheels, all wrapped in a beautiful black-over-gray two-tone, a factory color combo not offered in the US. The cost of all this isn’t cheap, ringing in at ¥13.2 million ($87,700 USD) if you supply your own AE86. If you don’t, then you can pay ¥16.5 million ($108,350 USD) to have them source the car for you. It’s the perfect companion car to the TOM’s Heritage Supra, which costs around ¥25 million ($164,100 USD).
