It died, quietly in it's sleep. The rough, tough, little working class hero passed away without anyone noticing. I'm not talking about one ae86 in particular, but rather AE86's in general. It was so gradual too, like a slow disease eating away at it. Some people may not know what I mean, there are others who've sat further in their chairs, nodding their heads. Some people are in the know. Long ago, back in 1983, consumers had the wonderful option of running to the dealership and buying a cheap affordable commuter car that offered something more than a cup holder and a radio. A strong focus on the balance between affordability and driving enjoyment is a concept fairly lost in today's disposable car market. With driving enjoyment comes companionship from fellow drivers, and eventually motorsport sprouts from that friendly rivalry. The AE86 has always done well to keep up with more expensive, more complex vehicles. In the 90's you could find GTS's a plenty for a few hundred bucks, a little RWD car that had a little unf in the places unf should come. With the slow decline of the Honda, and closely associated import drag racing scene, drifting crept in to the lime light. Along with it came some of the cult status of the little Corolla, it's reputation, it's heart and soul? The cheap little car that could.
The definition of the AE86 was simply that of a sub $1000 sports car, not perfect but a great base to move up into the world of motorsports and particularly the motoring activity of drifting. Drifting is a sport for the working class, or originally it was intended as so. With so few offerings of usable Japanese chassis, and the faux pas of driving American ones, the AE86 GT-S and Nissan S240sx were direct rivals. At the beginning of the scene in North America, and really, the rest of the world, these were two fairly universally available chassis with great reputations. The Corolla was the cheaper of the two, being less 'turn key' than the 240sx. As popularity increased world wide, so did the need for more Corollas. Those that were known sold for good money, supply and demand drove up the prices of those readily available and others scoured the corners of the globe pulling up wood work to find others. For a short period in time there was a sudden burst of Corollas available for purchase, this drove the costs way down, and the need for preservation was low as well. Rather than trying to fix small dents or bends, people who needless destroy them and many of their now hard to come by parts, with the ease of picking up another for under $1000.
Time passes, and the world changes. It's all pretty subtle really, but as things progressed, the interest in drifting, and subsequently the interest in the Corolla grew. While the production of the AE86 stopped in 1987 the interest in beating on them has always been greater the day next. We've now come to a very narrow path, that sadly will continue to be narrow. The numbers have dwindled, there just are not as many Corollas as there was before, this is the obvious observation. What's not obvious is the true death of the car. The heart and soul, as mentioned before, the affordability of the Corolla, has died. No longer can one run to the classifieds to drive home a little putty Toyota for cheap.
With the increasing interest in Japanese motorsport, comes the increasing demands of the cars. The last hope of the Corolla was that of a Giant Slayer, the ability to do so well with so little. With the prices for stock Corollas basically the price of well built 240sx's, there is no opportunity to save money, or be competitive. The little car is dead. From these ashes a Phoenix was rising, the ground boiled and bubbled, light jutted from the soil as an egg was about to hatch. Sadly however, like an abandoned nest, the FT86 failed to develop correctly, and is close to being still born. A strong lack of resemblance to the original GT-S, a lack in similar spirit, a different market segment, has left the FT86 just a lazy attempt at trying to borrow sales from a group of car enthusiasts not nearly associated with the original car. There really is no working class hero in the new car.
The secret of the gold has long been out, the town is flooded with so little gold to be had, and soon this western digging town will rid it self of hopefuls looking to score big in the world of Corolla and dry up. Cue tumble Weeds.
Continuing is the hardcore, the dedicated and the obsessed. Shaken are the fanboys, the wannabes and the passing interests.
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anyone who has crushed an ae86 or left it at a junk yard to rot is not corolla enthusiast. Its sad but your right Quinn, i think the ae86 is dieing. The amount available has dropped and the price has gone up. It makes me sad, and only makes me want to go out and buy as many gts’s as i can, while i can
there will always be an ae86 in my life….. BEST CAR EVAR!
Impressive write up Quinn, as usual. It’s amazing how much the prices of AE86’s differentiate now-a-days. I bought my 87’ GTS with minimal rust and 9000km on a fully rebuilt engine for $2500. I can’t even find a stock condition corolla in the same condition for even close to that now!
Quinn, do you think 240sx’s are going to suffer the same fate as the AE86 is? They are easy and easy to come by, just like Corollas used to be.
So? Who cares about the prices or affordability? As long as there are a few true 86 lovers around the myth of the car’ll never die :)
Nice write up, I think it sums up the current situation well but I’m not sure if the problem you’re talking about is really a problem. I personally see it as a natural progress in the life of every good performance car. Take a look at how the price of used E30 M3s, Ferrari 250 GTOs or any other “iconic” cars changed. Back in the day you could’ve picked them up for prices that are hardly believable these days. The fact that the 86 is overpriced only proves how good it is even though the real value is way lower (just like the real value of a 250 GTO isnt even near its 20 mil USD pricetag).
Personally, I dont care about 86es destiny, future or whatever you guys want to call it. I find everyone who says they want to buy up all the remaining 86es in the world just to “preserve” them, well, silly. Why would you do that? Theres absolutely nothing rational in it. If you really want to have some fun with an 86 then buy one and drive, thats all you can do and thats the only thing you should do because 86es are meant to be driven. If preserving your 86 for the next owner in the name of “spreading the 86 love” is more important then driving the hell out of it then you have no idea what the 86 and love for driving cars in general is.