The Japanese cars of the 80's were incredible. The build quality was tremendous, they were fun, efficient and looked good (both inside and out). I miss those days.
@@thetreblerebel Drifting didn't exist when this car or this video came out. Not until years later. It didn't catch on in America even later still until Y2K.
Can't believe that in 1980s one of the world's most boring nameplates would be etched on one of the world's finest example of a pure lightweight 2dr affordable RWD sports coupe. I'd give anything today to get a mint 1985-86 Corolla GT-S coupe.
Trades46 Check with me in about 10-15 years, when I MIGHT be too old to drive mine, lol. I'm the original owner of this one. www.1985ae86hatchback.blogspot.com
May god bless your fucking soul man. That's too cool. 86s are harder then hell to find in good condition in the US. Thanks to drift nuts and Initial D fans,I'm stuck never getting the opportunity to drive one of these God cars. You at least took good care of yours old timer (and nice 3 spoke wheel. It was a nice touch)
TassieLorenzo Just about as good. But the MR2 used the engine which was derived from the 85 Corolla GT-S as well; without the 86 there would be no MR2.
I know what you mean. My '85 GT-S has over 275K on the original engine and it still runs strong and catches many, who dismiss it as a little old car, off guard. They obviously don't know about power-to-weight ratios.
I still own the red GT-S my brother bought new back in 1985 (along with all the factory, dealer and sales documents). Although far from stock, it still has the original interior, paint and drive train with over 275K miles and still going strong.
The MR2 was a great midship sports car at a relatively low price but the Trueno has achieved cult status. Back when these were new I would have chosen the 2 seater MR2 but I would have made the wrong choice. The Corolla GT-S is the balanced, lightweight car to have. I remember a schoolmate of mine buying one of these new and I wondered what was he thinking? Turns out he knew something I didn't know. Kudos to him!
I guess you've never been around a race track, or at least back in the eighties/nineties. Before everything went digital, it was customary for the timer to make an umpire move to signal to the driver that the pass was complete. Stupid NHRA thing.
***** That must have been bone stock. Circa 2006, my TRD modified 1985 GT-S hit over 135 MPH and was still (gradually) climbing towards redline, when I figured the engine sound and exhaust note might give the Highway Patrol a reason to figure out where the melody was coming from and follow it, so I quit while I was ahead. That was a blast.
***** That's what happens when smog regulations choke the life out of engines with ancient carburetor technology vs. multi-valve engines with electronic fuel injection controlled by a real ECU.
***** I've had mine up to 130 mph. With speedometer 2 mph error, that's 128, and that was at over 5,280 elevation just north of the New Mexico-Colorado border. :o) www.1985ae86hatchback.blogspot.com
Had a tough decision to make in the fall of 1984 , 85 Z-28 which I had always wanted or the Corolla hatchback? Never regretted buying the hatchback, had the same colors, sunroof. Had a ball in that vehicle drove it to Florida, California etc., put over 200k on it and was still perfect!!! The Z-28 would have never done that! Still love Toyota's.
It was - American auto makers were spewing out ancient engines from yesteryear just like institutional food in a hospital: Eat it, enjoy it, and don't tell us about your complaints because we aren't going to do anything about it.
it was a very low weight car, which makes a difference both in handling and acceleration. about 1000kg. the new 86 is still 200-300kg heavier than this car was. you don't need as much engine power or as much rubber with less weight. The new 86 though does have a lower center of gravity which is an improvement.
For comparison, neither of the big 3 had any commercial cars with DOHC back then. Hell the first American car that used a DOHC engine, had them built by Yamaha
Thank you so much for this, MotorWeek! I love watching these old MotorWeek reviews. So fun to see what these cars looked like brand new and how much auto technology has changed over the years.
Wow! Your dad still has his cavalier rs!!?? Amazing! I loved my z24, it was pretty quick for it's time. I use to drive the hell out of it...lol! I got chased by the police for racing down the street, racing other cars, got fought of course, another time I was gonna be late for work, and I got fought doing 120miles down i55. Boy did I pay a stiff fine for that one" but then again I was young and ignorant and stupid for doing those things! And eventually smoked the engine to the weeds!! But I loved the car though!
But its like a semi truck with full load going uphill haha....trust me ive owned an 86 for over 10years and even after a 4.7 rear gear change, port and polish head, trd head gasket, more aggressive cams, and fully ugraded ignition and i still get beat in the straight line by any modern minivan haha
Much with a Mouth Dogepool well, technically this is a usdm spec trueno, with different name, different bumper and less powerful 4age. But, still, this is ae86
Thank you Mr. Davis for these great Throwback/Flashback videos, as well as your current reviews. Even after 3 decades, you still have enviable enthusiasm and spirit. Who wouldn't when you get to enjoy so many cars.
I constantly watch this video. It makes me wanna continue searching for a Corolla GT-S and buying one. A hard thing to do nowa days but see how common they used to be makes me sad that they’re pretty difficult to find.
I love these, Thanks for putting another one out this week. We know you have the vaults, do 3 or 4 vids per week! I don't even care if were talking about some old dull cars either, its cool to see where we have come from, and sadly, what we have lost like the GTS and MR2.
@@yeungscs Yea, that is it’s main weakness. But it can be fixed by fitting in a Matrix XRS ecu or getting a reflash from Redliner9K. That combined with full bolt-ons and it’s capable of well over 200 whp.
Motorweek comes through again! Excellent presentation of 2 of my favorite cars. Do you have the 1994 Honda Accord coupe video? It used to be on the Motorweek channel, but was taken down a couple years back. Thanks!
I had the 2 door coupe w/ a trunk. It was a fun little car, especially with a few TRD performance parts, and I put over 300K miles on it. The sunroof leaked, the rear wheel bearings didn't like bigger rubber, and the AC went belly up.
nice review, I bought a GTS. a that time, it was a wonderful car, quick (at that time) stylish, great MPG, reliable. I bought a loaded Honda Accord v6 and I regret the purchase as I should have kept the GTS for a few more years, nothing was mechanically wrong, the A/C stopped working and it was starting to rust.
Don't forget that Throwback Thursday could be changed to Throwback Tuesday in order to spread the uploads evenly apart. Something like that would make more than a 1 day gap. Unless you wanted to change Fridays to Memory Mondays. I don't know, there's a lot of good ideas.
A few years back I owned a mint 85 MR2 that was an exact clone of this silver test car. Had only 70k miles and it ran perfect. It was stupid fun on twisty mountain roads. I still kick myself for selling it.
I'm sure that I'm not the first to ask but can you upload your review of the mark iv (late 90's preferably) Supra? John Davis you are the man. Always loved your show growing up and still do today. Nothing but class.
I mis5 my 85 MR2 - just like the white one in this review. A perfect driving machine and AWESOME daily driver. So much so that when the engine blew (literally- a hole the size of a large grape fruit while going down the road at 55 mph!) I bought an 89' to replace it. The fully decked out one with the two spoilers..... Even the 89 has been gone over 15 years now. No car has been like it since.
My uncle had a red Corolla GT-S. He didn’t know that his car 🚗 was popular nowadays. I remember how sporty the exhaust was from a stock car. He had two kicker 10” woofers in the back and I could remember my chest pounding from the bass. 🔈🔉🔊 Whoever bought it got a great deal.
Was stationed in West Germany when these came out. They didn’t sell them there but did American GI sales there. So a couple guys had their fun on the Autobahn ha.
I had both cars. they were both great drivers and some of the best sticks in the business. Northeast rust took the mr2 and I traded off the 86 for a 69 camaro...
Without a doubt two of the funniest cars from the 80s. I wished they made something like that today. I see Budweiser was making a delivery during the corolla's slalom run.
They sure where fun driving cars my nephews had both of those cars. Very nice. I hope to see in your future flashback Thursdays a retro review of the 1989 Chevy cavalier z24 boy how times fly! That was my first new car.
My wife used to have one of the Corolla GT-s, 1985 also. Fun to drive but no low-end power. It also rode surprisingly well for such a small car. I did not like working on that car; it seemed like no matter what you had to get to, something else was in the way. At least the plugs were easy to change.
The silver and black USDM Corolla GT-S is my favorite look for the stock AE86. It just looks so clean, much better than the overused tofu shop livery (I love initial d as much as the next guy, but every AE86 does not need to be a tofu car, lol). The "GT-S Twin Cam 16" decal on the doorside gives such a cool 80s feel. Awesome car, and I'm probably going to buy one someday when I graduate from high school next year. That is if I can find a shitty condition rusty GTS hatch for $5000 - $15000 that I can restore, that is.
All of the information in this video is correct except 1. I previously owned the t-top 88' MR2. Only the front disc were ventilated. The rear disc were solid which were the same for the Corolla GT-S that I also previous owned the 87 FX16 body style of.
Ever since then the ae86 has become a legendary car 👀 back then everyone thought it was jus another econobox 😂 it made a name for itself through out time 👀
Great video, I like the throwback stuff. New cars just don't interest me much, with their plastic/jellybean looks and electronics... Keep up the good work :)
I’m probably the only weirdo that love and envy classic cars like this.. I love them so much that I don’t think I’ll ever own a modern car, up until I have children that is 😊
Back in the day, I owned a 1985 Corolla GTS. I loved that car. Very reliable and fun to drive. Why can't we get simple, fun cars today? Today's cars are overengineered and overpriced.
