The GR Corolla’s 1980s Grandpa Is The Golf GTI Rival The World Forgot

Of all the cars in the 2023 GR Corolla’s crosshairs, the Volkswagen Golf R looks like the closest match. Maybe not visually, but its hatchback layout, all-wheel drive power delivery and 300 hp (304 PS) output mean the GR Corolla clearly has been designed to take the Golf R on and win.

But go back almost 40 years, to a time before the Golf R was a twinkle in Wolfsburg’s eye, and it was the Golf GTi that Toyota wanted to beat. The rear-wheel drive AE86 coupe might be the most famous 1980s performance Corolla, but the AE82 hot hatch was the car with its finger on the decade’s front-wheel drive pulse.

Like the rear-drive coupe and mid-engined MR2, the FX16 as it was known in the U.S. was propelled by the 1.6-litre 4A-GE inline four. That meant it gave away 200 cc to the mid-1980s Golf GTi, but only the Corolla, and not the Golf, got twin-cam, 16-valve heads and independent rear suspension.

Critics found plenty to like, but these FX16s are a relatively rare sight today, and struggle to get a namecheck in a conversation about 1980s hot hatches with cars like the Golf and Peugeot 205 GTi hogging the limelight.

Related: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Rocks The Rally Boat With 300 HP, AWD, And A 6-Speed Manual

This 1987 GT-S model up for auction on Cars&Bids has a few battle scars and its 108 hp (110 PS) engine is mated to an automatic transmission instead of the more desirable close-ratio five-speed manual. But the blue velour interior looks to be in fantastic shape and the 115,000-mile motor has apparently been rebuilt. It’s also a one-owner car, and is only up for sale due to the death of the man who bought it brand new in April 1987.

There’s no doubt that this 1980s survivor wouldn’t see which way the 2023 GR Corolla went if you lined the two up on a track, the old timer’s 10-second 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) effort likely to be chopped in half by the new car. But as a Radwood-ready companion to a GR in a two car garage, we can definitely see the appeal.