A 20-Valve AE86

I’ve been around my fair share of Corollas. Old ones, new ones and even really old ones!

But rarely do I show up to shoot one and someone just says ‘Heres the keys, its got a full window, go wherever you want’. Lo and behold if you shoot enough cars, occassionally you’ll run into an owner whos crazy enough to chuck you the keys to their pride and joy.

The pros and cons of this are very much balanced. Pros being the flexibility and time to get every shot, maneuvre the car, adjust finer details that(cons incoming), you don’t get to talk to the owner as much. What inspires them, why they chose certain parts, stories about the car and what it means to them.

Personally, I’d rather everyone throw me the keys to their car because it inevitably results in better content, better photos, a more in-depth and detailed video. But then, what would I write about? What stories would I tell when someone asks me about the car or about the owner? Pros and cons.

Waterford, if you’re not familiar with it is a small-ish place in the South of Ireland with plenty of car culture if you know where to look but you’ll tend to know most people if you’ve been in the circle for more than a few years,so this car and owner combo is no stranger to me but its seen more than a few changes since I last had a good look at it.

Sporting custom Purple-Over-Black and a host of aero, including a TRD boot spoiler it certainly looks the part but dont associate this car with that ‘all show, no go’ mantra because that couldn’t be further from the truth.

After a full-scale rebuild, this car was sporting a turbo 20-Valve setup but has since been reverted back to a naturally aspirated revision which arguably looks more at home in the engine bay but thats a matter of opinion and an argument for another day.

So whats it like to drive I hear you ask? Well, having only driven 16-valve version of the 86 before I thought it was mega! If throttle bodies dont do it for you then what does? Not wanting to completely take the piss(I could probably be heard driving this miles away), I really just got it through the first two gears and then left it at that for fear of getting too giddy and someone calling the guards on me.

The interior, as you can see, has some trick bits too including Bride seat, Nardi, hydro, some informative gauges and a Type-R strobe box which I’m 100% buying for my own car!

I don’t know are these car getting scarcer these days as the prices now begin to climb and climb but the amount of people willing to let you drive theres by yourself surely is! Big thanks to Sham for having me down and letting me loose on this thing.

Watch the accompanying video here: