Although there has been a lot of hopes that Toyota would return to it’s roots with small rear-wheel-drive coupes perhaps under the Scion badge, the brand came without any real performance models worthy of the car enthusiasts’ fanfare. That is until last Tuesday when Toyota officially revealed that there was truth in the rumors about a revival of the iconic sports coupe.

The FT-86 Concept, a joint development project with Subaru, will debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon next month with plans that the production model will be within dealer showrooms by late 2011. Toyota hasn’t said much about the FT-86 yet, but it has been long rumored that Toyota’s RWD chassis will be powered by a Subaru-derived 2-Liter boxer four in naturally aspirated form.

Drawing inspiration directly from the AE86 sports coupe, the FT-86 concept was designed by Toyota’s European Design Development (ED2) studio in Nice, France and features many of the design cues from Toyota’s FT-HS hybrid concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show 2007.

Subaru has not commented yet whether or not they will add their all-wheel-drive system but has confirmed that the styling will be distinct. Other confirmations of the concept to production is a six-speed manual transmission and 2+2 seating arrangement.

A few days earlier, Mr. Toyoda made criticism on the lack of excitement in the industry saying that, “Surely it is us — the automakers — who have abandoned our passion for cars”. Already the industry is buzzing with delight that Toyota has made a move back in the right direction.

If you just can’t wait until 2011 to drive the production model, you can take a virtual test-drive of it in Gran Turismo 5. Plus, you get to skip the Toyota and Subaru salespeople too. (Not that we don’t like sales people, they just don’t like us, especially when we take every gear to redline.)

More pictures:

Video (added 10/19):

At the time, the Corolla GTS with it’s 1.6 liter 4AGE, DOHC 16 valves and employing Toyota’s new T-VIS technology was a radical engine in a modest chassis. It did not take long for Toyota to put it to good use in circuit and rally racing. The combination of ease of tuning, accessible performance parts from TRD, and a lightweight chassis made the Corolla GTS a formidable opponent in many forms of racing.

Because of it’s racing heritage, it has now become the most in-demand Japanese classic car in the world. It’s cult-like status comes from not only Toyota-backed racing, but also the overwhelming successes in Japanese street racing, touge or mountain-pass racing, and circuit racing. It is the weapon of choice for many serious competitors both on and off the race track.

With such a rich history of racing, you can understand why I was blown away when I first laid eyes on this gem almost a decade ago. It was owned and operated by Peter ‘Rabbit’ Vang who had modified the car with all intentions to autocross. Keep in mind that back in the early 2000’s there were no outlets to drift. Most people who were serious about motorsports were out there drag racing, trying to push their all-motors Civics or nitrous injected, turbocharged Supras to the limitations of straight-line racing.

To maximize the AE86’s abilities on the autocross course, Tokico HTS 45 way adjustable dampers were matched up with Ground Control coil-overs up front and TRD Japan 8-way adjustable shocks were matched up with TRD Japan springs in the rear. Battle Version 30mm roll center adapters and Battle Version pan hard rod were also added to keep suspension geometry in check and control rear solid axle movement, respectively. A factory LSD unit in the rear also keeps the AE86 in traction.

Basic bolt-on modifications were added to increase the efficiency of the 4AGE. An intake system was added to draw in more air and TRD headers help exhaust flow through the custom piping. In order to keep the modest look of the AE86 and maintain low-end torque, a stock-style performance exhaust was added in the rear.

Although the AE86 is set up for autocross and did quite well, these days it is mostly a garage queen. Rabbit passed the car onto his good friend Keng Lee a few years back to focus on other priorities. Keng intends to keep the AE86 true to it’s heritage. No crazy nitrous kits, no turbo swaps, but rather an optimal suspension setup and a highly tuned naturally aspirated engine to keep the car revving at high RPMs through the winding roads.

The heart of the AE86 has always been it’s simplicity in form and function. Even today, for what it lacks in brute power and advanced technology this underdog succeeds with agility and finesse.

In the engine bay:
Intake adapter
TRD headers
Magnacore wires

Underneath the chassis:
Battle Version 30mm roll center adapter
Battle Version pan hard rod
Tokico HTS 45-way adjustable front damper
Ground Control front coilover springs (6.3kg/mm rate)
JIC magic pillow ball mounts
TRD Japan springs (5.1kg/mm rate)
TRD Japan 8-way adjustable shocks
Custom exhaust piping
Stock-style exhaust
Factory LSD

Inside the cage:
Corbeau Forza fix position driver seat
Corbeau 4-point harness
Momo steering wheel hub
Momo 320 mm steering wheel