Toyota has offered its final GT86 within the UK, setting the seal on virtually 9 years of driving enjoyable.
The dynamic coupe has led the corporate’s worldwide renaissance as a maker of pure-bred sports activities automobiles, blazing a path for right now’s GR Supra and GR Yaris.
To rejoice the event Toyota has put collectively a brief movie capturing a few of GT86’s best moments from the previous decade.
The concept of the brand new sports activities automobile was first mooted in 2005 as Toyota and Subaru regarded for a enterprise that will symbolise the energy of the alliance between the 2 corporations.
An entry-level sports activities automobile was agreed on and the next 12 months “Group 86” set to work, with Toyota taking the lead on product planning and design and the companies working collectively on the engineering improvement programme.
The guiding principal was the declaration of Toyota President Akio Toyoda that “if it’s not enjoyable to drive, it’s not a automobile”.
From the outset, GT86 (or just the “86” in Japan) was going to be easy and enjoyable. For Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada the basics have been rear-wheel drive, unusual tyres (simply the identical as on a Prius) and no engine turbocharging.
Whereas the identify echoed the qualities of the well-known AE86 Corolla coupe, it was additionally interpreted within the 86 x 86 bore and stroke of the automobile’s 2.0-litre “boxer” engine, provided by Subaru.
The mission reached fruition with the production-ready mannequin – the world’s most compact 2+2 coupe – debuting on the Tokyo motor present in 2011.
UK gross sales started in July the next 12 months, prompting a wave of media and public acclaim and a wholesome clutch of awards, together with Prime Gear journal’s Automotive of the 12 months trophy.
GT86’s taut seems and nimble dealing with made it an prompt success as an genuine driver’s automobile. It was designed for sport in addition to leisure, competing in GT4 circuit racing and being engineered for rallying – the primary homologated rear-wheel drive rally automobile for a few years.
Tv stardom arrived when the BBC’s Prime Gear programme recruited the GT86 because the Fairly Quick Automotive examined on observe by a collection of well-known faces.
Maybe most exceptional of all, Toyota helped blind driver Amit Patel obtain his dream of driving on a racetrack – a feat he achieved with distinctive ability and pace, recorded in an award-winning movie.
In its time on sale within the UK, virtually 7,500 GT86s have been offered.
