Well its been 25 year when the Japanese introduce us to the small, light weight and last of the rear wheel drive corolla. The Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine announce that the US AE86 is now part of the small nostalgic group, now the AE86 has joined the lines of the greatest Japanese cars like the Nissan GTR KPGC10 (aka hakasuka GTR), Nissan Fairlady Z S30 (US Datsun 240Z), Toyota 2000GT, Mazda RX3, RX2 (aka Capella Rotary) and few more.

Contrary to what people know the US Toyota Corolla in 1984 AE86 chassis never been or never had the EFI twin cam 4AG motor or the rear disk brakes, it was the top carburetor single cam 4AC or 3AU. The twin cam rear disk brakes didn’t come to the US till 1985 but the chassis code was AE88, YES not AE86 but since Japanese people had been calling it the 86 (hatchi-roku) the name got stuck as AE86 in the US also.

As a owner of a 1984 Toyota SR5 (fully modified)for 6 years what best describes this car? This car is an adventure to my youthful years, my passion on engineering and style. This car resembles when Toyota makes cars with soul, Its is far from perfect but if you are serious about driving, no holds bar pushing, no ABS, no traction control, no speed limiter & fighting every corner this is the one for you.

Last word, from the mountains of Japan or the muddy terrain of UK to the tracks of Willow springs California USA from drifting, rally,wheel to wheel road racing or the digital world of gran turismo playstation the AE86 is alive and well…HAPPY BIRTHDAY AE86…