If the Toyota AE86 Corolla paved the way for the GT86 we have today, Initial D contributed greatly in making the original an icon. Now Toyota is celebrating those origins with this latest concept car.
For those unfamiliar, Initial D was a manga comic by Suichi Shigeno. The cult classic followed the story of Takumi Fujiwara, a teenager driving a modified AE86 for his father’s tofu shop up a mountain and honing his drifting skills in the process. The original comic series lead to several animated television shows and a film adaptation.
Created not by the home office in Japan but by Toyota UK, the GT86 Initial D concept borrows its livery directly from Takumi’s “panda” 86. It’s done up in white and black and features RS Watanabe alloys, a TRD suspension, Fujitsubo exhaust, Cusco strut brace, carbon-fiber hood, yellow fog lights and silver-painted engine cover. It sports carbon door handles and mirror covers, mud flaps, tinted taillights, but no rear spoiler. It even wears the name of the Fujiwara Tofu Shop on the door.
The result is a fitting tribute to an icon of the street racing scene and is set to appear at “motoring events around Britain throughout the summer.”
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