People love a pop-up headlight. What was once a compromise between aerodynamics and a lighting rules has become, like tailfins or stripe decal packages, a beloved marker of a bygone era. Updated laws and technology have made retractable headlights obsolete, so even when a car has been ostensibly designed as a tribute to a pop-up-equipped car, like the like the ZN6 was to the AE86, the successor doesn’t need them. Even so, one Japanese tuner has rectified that.
At first glance Result Japan’s Neo86 kit looks like the kind of AI slop that is flooding social media these days. But no, this is an actual kit for the ZN6 Toyota 86 and Scion FR-S. We suppose it could also be applied to a first-gen Subaru BRZ, but why?
With retractable headlamps, side markers at the leading edge of the fenders, and a squared-off front bumper, the nose closely resembles the AE86 Sprinter Trueno’s. That effect is even more pronounced with Result Japan’s demo car, finished in the “panda” paint scheme of the AE86’s and wearing gunmetal RS-Watanabe 8-spokes.
The FRP kit is more than just a pretty face. For the full effect, it includes a new hood, side skirts, rear bumper, new front fenders, rear wheel arch flares, door panels, and trunk spoiler. Result Japan cautions that installation will require cutting into the car body. The kit is special order, and may require a two-month lead time in import from Japan.
One would think that the mismatch in design themes — 80s angular mashed up with 00s swoopiness — would end up looking like when people grafted Supra taillights onto a Honda Civic in the 90s. We’re not usually fans of Frankenstein designs, but the combination works surprisingly well. Result Japan’s, um, result looks almost like an SW20 MR2 or A70 Supra from the front. Pop-ups might be extinct, but this kit allows the glory days of retractable headlights to live on, and we have yet to meet a kid who doesn’t love them.
Images courtesy of Result Japan.
I get a bit of old Prelude from the front too, so I guess pop-up headlights were more similar to one another than I remember it, but yeah, they did a fine job of making this, the front looks great!
The rear, not so much! The upper mustache is weird, they could have made that line full-width or tried an heckblende between the rear lights…
Yes! Prelude indeed! Either way, I love this, it’s so fun. And also agree that some time should have been spent on the rear – at least some new taillight units that incorporated amber lenses…
I thought it was the new Prelude, but the livery was throwing my brain off.
Boy does that do wonders for the styling. Really cool.