Toyota 86 sports history

Despite a reputation for blandoid family cars, Toyota actually ran its first true two-seater sporty back in 1965. The car was called the Sports 800 and, thanks to sharing parts with the more mundane Publica, the baby coupe looked the goods and had a top speed of close to 160km/h.

As Toyota is now keen to highlight, partly in an attempt to divert all the engine attention from its 86 partner Subaru, the S800 had a 790cc horizontally-opposed, two-cylinder, air-cooled engine.

"So far, Toyota has delivered a variety of sports cars. In developing the new 86 we had in mind three models in particular," says Tetsyua Tada, chief engineer on the 86.

He goes on to highlight the S 800, then the brilliant 2000 GT, and finally the Corolla AE86 which has become a Japanese cult car and the building block for a huge number of weekend warriors and motorsport champions, including the latest drift machines.

A classic 2000 GT was even parked in the styling studio as Toyota's designers worked on the shape for the 86, so they could tap it for inspiration.

"This is a masterpiece that pushed Toyota's sports cars to a world level," says Tada.

The 2000 GT was the high point of Toyota's rapid rise through the 1960s, despite the arrival of the Corolla, and was even used by Sean Connery when he starred as James Bond in the 1967 film, You Only Live Twice. In an interesting twist, Toyota built a pair of convertible cars for the film, even though the 2000 GT was only ever sold as a coupe.

The AE86 - also known as the Sprinter - gives its name to the all-new Toyota two-seater and is the car that Tada clearly believes is the closest relative to his new baby.

"We had a passion to create a car like the AE86. Rear-wheel drive and nimble footwork are the basics of this vehicle," Tada says.