Some cars are just so incredibly good, they manage to transcend time itself. The Toyota AE86 is one such car. Made in the ‘80s using tin cans and old plastic bottles, the AE86 sought driving nirvana via an age-old formula – engine up front, power in the back, and very little weight in between. The recipe worked wonders, giving birth to one of the most iconic enthusiasts’ cars to ever hail from the Land of the Rising Sun. And that’s saying quite a lot. It was so good, in fact, Toyota decided to give it an encore several decades later. Southern California resident Ron Ng owns an example of both the new and old 86, and Petrolicious decided to highlight them both in this eight-and-a-half-minute video.
If you wanna be specific about it, Ng owns a 2017 Toyota 86 and a 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS. Both are finished in a classic white and black two-tone panda paint scheme, offer cog swaps through a three-pedal manual transmission, and equip high-revving four-cylinder engines under the hood.
But the similarities don’t end there. “Driving the new Toyota 86, it definitely has the characteristics of driving the older Corolla,” Ng says. And just like the old Corolla, the new 86 isn’t about burnouts and quarter-mile times. “It’s a momentum car. You always have to push it. You’ve gotta learn your brakes points properly to keep your RPMs up,” he explains, later adding, “The new 86 is a tool that teaches you how to achieve a high driving IQ.”
Which would you rather have? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out our review of the new 86 here.