Back in March, Winding Road floated the idea that Toyota may be in the process of developing a rear-wheel drive vehicle in the same vein as the Corolla AE86 of the 80s. At the time, it was easy to pass it off as pure speculation. Now, the GTChannel says that its sources in the Land of the Rising Sun have also confirmed that a 2+2, front-engine, RWD vehicle is in the works and that if and when it comes to market its sticker will be "well under [$] 20k" – maybe even $16,000.

Considering that the Scion brand has quickly emerged as a cost-conscious means of stylish transport, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that such a vehicle would slot in nicely within the youth-oriented marque, even if its price would make it a direct competitor to the tC. The only rub is finding a suitable platform to build the new vehicle atop, and the only RWD vehicle that could fit the bill would be the Lexus IS. Granted, the $30,000+ sports sedan's underpinnings might be a bit of a stretch (or shortening, in this case) to make a budget performance car, but the ability to cut costs via platform sharing isn't out of the question. Maybe some of the old IS's architecture could even be used.

In the meantime, we're hoping to see spy shots of a tC-bodied mule making the rounds around the 'Ring, rear-wheels a blazing and powersliding into the Carousel.

[Source: GTChannel]

Toyota AE86 Replacement


A 2+2 front engine, rear wheel drive sports car is planned to be the sprititual successor to the AE86 Toyota Sprinter Trueno/Corolla Levin, unbelievably at a price cheaper than the discontinued Toyota MR-S…

Toyota enthusiasts should be happy with the latest news from the Japanese magazine ‘Best Car’, with news that Toyota is bringing back the soul of the now famous AE86 Trueno/Levin twins in an all new compact 2+2 sports coupe. It’s no suprise that the rumoured pricing target of 1,500,000 yen is almost too cheap to believe, but this is in fact what Toyota are aiming for. The idea behind the project is to create ‘a car that appeals to young people’ with a price that they would be able to afford (the ramifications of this we’ll discuss later). This same idea harks back to the early 1980’s when the original AE85 series Corollas were introduced, where relatively cheap and reliable cars were sold with just enough interior niceties to keep buyers happy, and the price to a minimum. There are no Toyotas in the RWD compact sports category since the MR-S was discontinued in April this year, and the 2+2 configuration should give the new compact sprts car a wider appeal than the strictly 2 seater MR-S.




The target selling price of 1,500,000 yen does seem almost too good to be true, and the basic model may actually increase to around 1,800,000 - 2,000,000 yen by the time it’s released, which is still reasonable if the car’s specifications are adequate enough. But this is where some people might start worrying…




It’s been hinted that the ‘New AE86′ will be powered by a 1500cc 2NZ-FE four cylinder engine producing 120ps/6000rpm and 14.8kgm/3800rpm coupled to a traditional 5 speed manual transmission. This may seem like a half hearted effort by Toyota, but the total weight of the car is expected to be around 1000kg which would be quite close, even too close, to the original AE86’s specification. A simple theme will give the car much of the soul of the last RWD Trueno/Levin and should keep costs down below the 2,000,000 yen mark. The artist’s rendition shown here includes black plastic bumpers much like the AE86 models had, with clean lines and minimal overhangs which, if it’s close to the mark, would almost guarantee a sales success.