But why the AE86? Why would a 26-year-old Corolla be such an inspiring model for one of the coolest modern sport cars?
Well, the 1986 Corolla AE86 was a legendary coupe overseas in Japan, especially through one of Japan’s most watched automotive TV shows Best Motoring. Japanese racing and drifting legend Keiichi Tsuchiya – also called the ‘Drift King’ – often used the AE86 for drift and race segments on the show, often praising it as one of his all time favorite Japanese drift cars: ‘This is fun! I wish that Toyota could make cars like this again! How come this car gets me fired up all the time?”
The original 86 had a very similar setup to the new GT, boasting an average weight of 1000kgs, rear-wheel drive configuration and a front-mounted engine. Indeed, both two-door coupes lend themselves well to customisation.
The twin-cam four-cylinder engine was offered in different setups depending on the region, but talking about the AE86 you see here, it was fitted with an original 4A-GZE 1.6-litre engine, which comes supercharged as standard. Having the supercharger open to 8 psi (0.6 bar) means the Toyota produces 143hp, and 140 lb-ft of torque. Impressive numbers for a 26-year-old Corolla, don’t you think?
Although Japan is quite a trek from Jordan, we still have a big scene of classic Toyotas all over town. As the AE86’s owner Mohammad Shaker told us, the car is pretty customisable: it could suit a driver who just wants both straight-line speed and immense sideways drift action for a reasonable amount of money.
Having stumbled across this example then, we wanted to show off the new 86 alongside the original inspiring AE86: old school meets new school, like godfather, like son. After all, the newbie has inherited some of its ancestor’s features, and that makes both a lot of fun to drive.
The 86 arrived to Jordan not too long ago, and CTA Toyota/Lexus gave us a call knowing that we’d been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this particular Japanese beauty. So besotted were we that we ended up spending more time than we anticipated just ogling it.
As well as offering us some time with this particular head turner, CTA Toyota/Lexus also invited us to attend one of the biggest Toyota Meetings in Amman with the 86.
