Initial D is a Japanese anime and manga series about Touge racing in Japan. In the series, the protagonist of the show named Takumi Fujiwara who use to deliver in the infamous AE86 unknowingly that he is the fastest driver in the area. The car was bought and tuned by his father named Bunta Fujiwara who was the best driver in the previous generations of racers and ruled the Mount Akina pass for many years. In this show, you will see the hardships Takumi has to go through and race the finest clubs and drivers in the neighboring area to become the “White Ghost of Akina”.
The most recognizable car in the series was the Toyota Corolla AE86 driven by the main character of the show Takumi. The show ran from 1995 to 2013 in 48 volumes, focusing on illegal street racing and drifting. Since it is one of the best-selling Manga series in history the Toyota Corolla AE86 has become the pop culture icon that everyone wants. Today we are going to discuss everything you need to know about the Toyota Hatchback in the ’80s and how it became a legend in the automotive industry.
A true motoring legend from Japan
Hachi Roku (Japanese term for 86), was only in production for 3 years starting from 1984 to 1987 and there were two variants of the car, the Trueno and the Levin, where the body style was the same but the main difference was the pop headlights that came with the Truenno trim which was the Takumi Fujiwara’s car. These cars were not the most powerful thing on the road and featured a 1.6 Liter naturally aspirated inline-4 motor capable of producing 128 horsepower and 110 lb-ft of torque which is what every other budget car makes nowadays.
However, the good part about the engine is like every other Japanese engine, it was tuner friendly and can easily be moded to make more power. Also one of the notable things that made this car such a legend was the nearly 50-50 weight distribution and also the front engine rear-wheel drive setup which made all the difference. The car became a true weapon in the right hands and the chassis was one of the best for drifting it became the car for the original Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya who made a significant contribution to put this sport on the map.
What made it so cool?
The thing that made this car one of the coolest things, is the fact that initially it was not. There were many cars that initially overshadowed the AE86, such as Toyota also had cars like Supra, Celica, and an MR2 that were at the forefront of the performance-oriented cars from the manufacturer. This made the Corolla an underdog in its own lineup. It is one of the gems that only a few actual enthusiasts knew about which was not led by the power figures or advertisements.
The lightweight body and rear-wheel drive layout of the Toyota AE86 and the 4A-GE engine were designed with two things in mind, number one powering small cars like these and racing. Although the engine was not the most powerful it was reliable, had a redline of 7,500 rpm, and sounded like angry chainsaws.
The chassis was used in almost every major race you can imagine, however, the most notable one will be the drifting. It was basically the perfect thing to slide around on curvy roads. The 86 was lightweight, predictable, and perfectly balanced chassis making it a supreme driving machine. Due to this a young and broke car enthusiast named Keiichi Tsuchiya took the popularity of the car to a whole new level.
Also, Initial D made the car a pop culture icon
The Initial D also played a vital role in making the Toyota Corolla AE86 a cultural icon. The manga series was written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno where the car competed with the best cars from the Japanese Domestic Market such as the Mazda RX7, Nissan R34 GTR V-spec II, Civic Type R, and several others, stating that there are several other aspects of a car that makes it good rather than the power output.
The creators made the show as realistic as possible, therefore taking the help of Keiichi Tsuchiya on the editorial supervision mentioned a professional race car driver who also started honing his skills on the of these 80’s Corolla. After that, the driving prowess of the 86 took the driving seat and made this badge one of the well-known cars in the automotive community.
Final thoughts
The Toyota Corolla AE86 is one the best cars that Toyota has ever produced, it is now a well-respected car among enthusiasts because of its balanced chassis and history of racing domination. Initially, the car was only known by the true car people and overshadowed by the manufacturer’s own line-up. However, not for too long as the rise of drifting and Initial D made sure the car gets the due respect and attention it deserved. Fast forwarding to today, it is one of the most influential cars to come out of Japan and made its way to the hall of fame list of the golden JDM era.
