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This is the '85 Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno GT Apex, better known in many circles as the legendary AE86. Designed by Nobuaki Katayama (or at least engineered in part by him) and introduced in 1983, the AE86 was a series of the famed Toyota Sprinter Trueno and Corolla Levin lines. There was also the similar AE85 line; while the AE86s were designed for performance, the AE85s were designed for economy and mainly differed in the engine department.
Described as "a cult icon inextricably woven with the earliest days of drifting", the AE86 with its high-revving 1.6L 4A-GEU inline-4, was a force to be reckoned with on and off the circuit. The car remains a highly popular icon especially in the world of drifting, long after its discontinuation; it has been given the pet name of ハチロク (Hachiroku) since. Production ended in 1987 when the E90 generation of Corolla arrived, and of course, a new generation of Trueno and Levin.
Now this casting was introduced in the fourth wave of the second iteration of the Hot Wheels Boulevard Series introduced in 2020 as the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. The designer is Mark Jones. This casting is also highly popular, although this is not the first time Hot Wheels made an AE86; the first AE86 casting was introduced in 2006 and depicted a highly modified AE86, whereas this one depicts a stock AE86. This casting is also slightly larger than the older casting. This casting will be introduced into the 2021 mainline in a Falken paintjob.
