A Look Back At The Toyota Corolla AE86 'Hachi-Roku', And Why It's So Expensive Today

AE86 : THE ANIME "HACHI-ROKU"

The AE86 is widely regarded among enthusiasts as the greatest Corolla of all. The Toyota Corolla AE86 is a cultural icon, considered by connoisseurs to be the best Toyota Corolla ever. Why would pundits pass up the popular 2019 Toyota Corolla, equipped with a host of standard competitive features like emergency braking, steering assist, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning? or even a 2010 Corolla with a blessed reputation for fuel efficiency and reliability, but instead crown the 1980s Toyota AE86 as the greatest Corolla of all?

In the end, the AE86 nicknamed the "Hachi-Roku," is a crude example of a product that has earned its value, period. It wasn't supposed to be famous, and even Toyota didn't expect it to overtake the then-newly introduced FWD Corolla in the market. It reminds you of the shy boy at school who everyone thought would cower in a corner at the slightest provocation, only to stun everyone by standing up to the dreaded bully and kicking him in the back.

Toyota AE86 is the stupid boy! His potential exploded like a dynamo, leaving everyone in awe and elbowing their way to the front lines at Toyota dealerships, just as everyone at school jostled to befriend the prodigy.

THE AE86 IS A REAL-LIFE HACHI-ROKU

1980s folks could be forgiven for initially dismissing the Toyota AE86 into the pile of generic 1980s Japanese cars. However, the model has since evolved into something far from generic, a true icon and legend. Much of this legendary status is due to its fantastic performances in the Japanese street racing manga series Initial D, but the AE86 is the real Hachi-Roku.

However, the Hachi-Roku is so rare that you would pay an obscene price for it if you were lucky enough to find it in working order. Toyota offered the AE6 in two versions; Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno, which were available as a coupe and liftback. Both were small front-engined RWD models, which brings us to the interesting background of these cars.

You see, it was immediately clear to the Japanese automaker that it had hit the jackpot when it launched the first Corolla in 1966, exactly thirty years after the launch of its first production car, the Model AA sedan. For this reason, Toyota wisely 'kept the magic recipe', which meant that it hesitated to transition the model range from the original RWD to FWD, despite improving the model with each generation.

Finally, Toyota could no longer ignore the benefits of FWD and decided to switch the Corolla to front-wheel drive in its fifth generation. Unsurprisingly, not everyone at Toyota was happy with this switch. FWD makes sense for family cars in terms of fuel economy and interior space but at the expense of handling. So what did Toyota do? It flipped a figurative coin.

Toyota engineers were instructed to build two completely different versions of the Corolla on two completely different platforms. Family 5-door hatchbacks and 4-door sedans would be FWD, while 3-door liftbacks and 2-door coupes would remain RWD.

That's it, Toyota knew it was moving away from RWD when it came to the Corolla. So she compensated her engineers—who were RWD fans—by giving them unlimited freedom to build the coupe and liftback versions of their dreams for a couple of commuter sports cars.

So what did the transmission engineers do? “This will be the last RWD Corolla we will ever build,” they said. “Let's show them what they're missing out on! Let's throw everything we've got at it!" Such was the kitchen where the Corolla AE86 was cooked. As for their christening, the Corolla Levin was named after the old English word "Levin" meaning "lightning", while the Sprinter Trueno got its name from a Spanish word for thunder

INITIAL D

The Toyota AE86, also known as the Toyota Corolla GT-S, plays a significant role in the anime and manga series Initial D. It is featured as the car of the main character, Takumi Fujiwara, who is a delivery driver for his father's tofu shop. Takumi becomes skilled in mountain pass driving techniques and eventually becomes a professional street racer.

In the series, the AE86 is portrayed as a lightweight and agile car that is capable of an impressive performance on the mountain passes and hairpin turns of Japan's Akina Circuit. It is known for its rear-wheel drive layout, which allows it to drift and slide around corners, and its high-revving naturally aspirated inline-four engine, which gives it a distinctive exhaust note.

The AE86 has become an iconic car in the world of anime and manga and is highly sought-after by collectors and enthusiasts. It continues to be a popular choice among fans of Initial D and other forms of media that feature the AE86.

THIS IS WHY THE CAR IS SO EXPENSIVE TODAY

What drivers loved about the Toyota AE86 (besides the cartoony glory) was the surprisingly exceptional handling, quick throttle response, and stunning steering precision. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was how it used the imperfections to its advantage that made the car so much better than the sum of its parts.

Take a live rear axle for example. It was dated, even by the standards of the 1980s era. At least American drivers know that the short IRS (independent rear axle suspension) is much better than the current rear axle configuration. You'd have to admire how this apparent imperfection worked to the AE86's advantage on the Touge, Japan's alternative to the British Back Road, which winds its way up a mountain with various S-bends.

The AE86's FR layout, optional limited-slip differential, MacPherson front suspension, high-revving 4A-GE, and near-perfect weight distribution helped it dominate the mountains as these young drivers realized they could easily cause the rear of the car to lose grip and force it into a controlled slide thanks to IZS.

The Hachi-Roku is an obnoxiously expensive car, but it's worth it. It was a popular race for modified stock cars in the Group A and Group N racing categories, especially rally and circuit races. Many privateer teams continued to race the car even after Toyota discontinued it, and it is still the preferred choice for rallying and club racing.

The Japanese street racing anime Initial D, in which protagonist Takumi Fujiwara used his father's AE86 Trueno GT-Apex Hatchback to deliver tofu and for street racing, helped turn the Corolla AE86 into a cultural icon of Japanese pop culture. The AE86 is also a playable vehicle from the Initial D Arcade Stage series.

While it also appeared in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and The Fast and the Furious 4, and could be spotted by watchful eyes in the background waiting in line to enter Race Wars in the first ever The Fast and the Furious movie, Initial D's popularity is the main cause high sales value of the car.

The high selling price of the cars is popularly called the "Takumi tax" or "tofu tax", after the protagonist and his occupation as a tofu deliveryman. This is a great irony, considering that this was a model line that Toyota conceived as a small, sporty, and affordable means of transport.