The 86 - Toyota's new rear wheel drive sports car

In March 1965, Toyota released the Sports 800. An inexpensive easy-to-drive sports car affectionately called the "Yota-Hachi". The Sports 800 featured a 790cc horizontally-opposed boxer engine with dual carburetors and it was one of the first sports cars with a lift off roof panel or targa top. The Toyota Sports 800 boasted a maximum speed of 155km/h, but thanks to the light 580kg vehicle weight it outperformed sport cars in a class above.

The concept of a lightweight sports car featuring the world's only unique combination of horizontally-opposed engine and FR layout has been adopted again in the "86" after more than 40 years from the birth of 'Yota-Hachi'.

Road and Track Magazine reviewed a pre-production model of the 2000GT and described it as 'one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven'. It is generally accepted as the first Japanese 'supercar'. It was powered by a 2.0L straight-6 with a double overhead camshaft that generated 112kW and could reach 220 km/h on the track. Maybe that's why it was the first Japanese car fitted with all-round power assisted disc brakes.

The 2000GT came third in the 1966 Japanese grand Prix, won the Fuji 24 hour race in 1967 and set several world records for speed and endurance.

Its elegant, flowing form was distinctively prominent among car designs in those days and it created a sensation overseas; so much so that a specially customised 2000GT convertible appeared with Sean Connery in the James Bond movie, "You only live twice" in 1967.

The 2000GT's graceful side window shape and rear fender line are inherited by the "86".

In 1982, The RA40 Celica GT (RA63) made its debut at the New Zealand rally taking first and second place. The Celica Turbo and Twin Cam Turbo kept up the good work, scoring victories in the American Off-Road Series and the 1984 Safari Rally.

In Japan, the AE86 was known as "Hachi-Roku", which means "86" in Japanese. The car was powered by a fuel-injected, 4 cylinder twin-cam 1587cc 4A-GE engine coupled with the then, newly adopted rack and pinion steering mechanism that delivered quick handling. It delivered 130kW originally but was later down-rated to 88kW.

The AE86 had a 5 speed manual gearbox (automatic transmission was later added as an option) and was fitted with ventilated disc brakes. During production, AE86 was popular in Group A and Group N racing and was particularly sought after for rallying and circuit racing. It still appears in rallies and club races to this day.

It's low weight (950 - 970kg) and rear-wheel drive configuration meant it was exceptionally well balanced for drifting while cornering. Japanese racing legend, Keiichi Tsuchiya who was known as the 'Dori-kin' (the 'drift king') drove an AE86.

The AE86 is indeed a car that has been cherished by loyal fans over many years. This car-and-user relationship is what the new '86' aims to create.

The Celica GT-Four was created to compete in the World Rally Championships. Its 2.0 Litre turbocharged 3S-GTE engine had a power output of 190bhp.

In order to comply with the Championship rules, Toyota needed to produce a road going version of the car and as a result the GT-Four had a production run of just 5000 units.

There were three generations of the GT-Four - the ST 165 between October 1986 and August 1989, the ST185 between September 1989 and September 1993 and the ST205 between February 1994 and June 1999.

The GT-Four was the first Japanese AWD car to enter the previously European manufacturer dominated international rally scene and take trophies and win races. It's first major win came in 1989 at Rally Australia followed by many other successes including the World Rally Championship in 1992, the WRC Manufacturer's and Driver's Championships in 1993 and 1994 and the European Rally Championship in 1996.

The GT 500 SUPRA had a highly evolved, two-litre, four-cylinder 3S-GTE engine that generated 375 kW. This saw it score four outright championship wins between 1997 and 2005.

It was developed in 1994 in response to regulation changes in the Japan Touring Car Championship that saw the competition divided into to two classes, GT 500 and GT 300.

Between 1997 and 2005, the GT 500 Supra scored four outright championship wins.

The 'FT-86' concept that was shown in October 2009 at the Tokyo Motor Show, with FT standing for Future Toyota. The concept was a front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car, built to make driving fun again.

Building on the success of the FT-86, the FT-86G Concept has been styled , tuned and beefed up by Toyota's technical partner GAZOO Racing. It is slightly longer, wider and lower than the 86 with Recaro seats, a large carbon fibre rear wing, diffuser and oversized twin exhausts.

The horizontally opposed Boxer engine has been tuned and turbocharged and the car sits on 19" Bridgestones.

The 86 brought back the excitement and thrill of raw sports car driving. The FT-86G looks set to crank the exhilaration up to a whole new level.

The 86 (in Europe, they call it the GT 86 and in the USA, it's the SCION FR-S) has been designed to bring back the raw excitement of driving true, out and out sports car.

This car is designed to be driven. It's a front engine rear wheel drive sports coupe powered by the world's first horizontally opposed D-4S engine. This combines 'boxer' engine technology with our cutting edge D-4S direct injection technology.

It has an extremely rigid, light-weight chassis, a great power to weight ratio and when stationary, has a 53:47 front to rear weight distribution. These features give the 86 truly superb handling characteristics - out on track, it drifts like it's born to it.

The 86 represents a return to the kind of sports car driving that raises the hairs on the back of your neck and puts a big grin on your face. And it has got professional drivers and motoring journalists worldwide, raving about it.

Toyota designed the 86 as the ideal sports car, an unadulterated driver's car. A rear-wheel drive, front-engine sports car that brings back raw driving pleasure and excitement. A car that's designed to let you do all the driving and simply begs to be driven.

86 is an incredibly dynamic sports car. The better your driving skills, the more the car rewards you with the kind of goose-bump inducing excitement that sports cars are supposed to create.