To emphasise the new concept’s roots in pop culture, Toyota commissioned UK-based manga artist Sonia Leong to design a series of panoramic backdrops that effectively put the real GT86 into comic strip action scenes. The car emerged as a star in its own right, influencing the emerging drifting scene and inspiring a live action movie and various arcade games. Initial D was a cult Japanese manga comic series in which the young hero, Takumi Fujiwara, famously drove a modified AE86, honing his driving skills on mountain roads while moonlighting as delivery driver for his father’s tofu shop. That connection has been re-emphasised with the creation of a one-off GT86 Initial D concept, liveried and kitted to match its comic book Corolla predecessor. On its launch in 2012, the Toyota GT86 was instantly recognised as a spiritual successor to the rear-wheel drive Corolla GT Coupe – also known as the AE86 – of the mid-1980s.
0 kommentar(er)
