1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S Rainbow Red 4A-GE Hardtop LSD Hatch CLEAN AE86 GTS 4AGE

To know this car you first must know the paint that it wears. I kept the piece of paper that was in the windshield when I bought the car originally, uploaded a picture of it, please read it and you'll understand the history this car brings lol. It was not running when I first bought it due to the previous owner putting the timing belt on drunk, luckily these are non interference engines so it doesn't matter. Clean clear title in my name. This is a 1 of 1 (thank god) version of an AE86 Corolla GT-S (made in 1986 which is the best year not just because of the face lift and better interior but mainly because the year happens to coincide with the chassis code AND even more importantly because I was born in 1986). This is a no reserve auction, and I’ll go ahead and state everything below here is a ton of opinions and biased statements so if you want to disagree with me either don’t bother reading further or feel free to put it on a blog or facebook page where I’ll never see it since I don’t have any social media.

To know the paint you must know the man that is responsible for it, lets say his name is Paulo. When Paulo decided to repaint this car due to some faded clear coat he had all the intention in the world to restore it to OEM new condition. So he purchased the original red base and clear from PPG paints. He spent a week prepping the car, had it all ready to go. Friday night we had a few drinks (few means approximately seven to twenty two or a hospital visit / bad decision / fighting a mustang owner or two whichever comes first). We bet Paulo he could not finish painting the car that night (knowing good and well he could). He was somewhere between seven and twenty two drinks, we put strobe lights in his paint booth, and dumped a fist full of bass boat gold & blue flake in the clear coat.

And thusly the Rainbow Red Rolla was born. Out of shear coincidence the car also has Power Star tires. Say Rainbow Red an Power Star tires out loud. Now name the first video game that comes to mind. Yes, my english teachers would roll over in their graves knowing that I just started a sentence with the word And, but it is ok I still use double spaces after a period which is actually not correct since we don't use typewriters any longer.

Let me tell you a story about a 1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S hatch with no sunroof. Way back in high school, back when JDM swaps were first becoming a thing, and the most aggressive 240sx swap you ever saw was a SR20DET. A couple guys I knew had a S14 240sx with a SR20DET swap and a mostly stock (intake & exhaust) corolla GT-S hatch. Down in Mexico they were pretending to know how to drift in a parking lot, and the police arrived. Being young and stupid they tried to run. Once they hit the interstate of course the SR20 swap 240sx dusted the corolla and left the poor rolla trying everything it could to keep up. Taking every gear to 7800rpm, TVIS kicked in, all 110hp or whatever was left, venerable 4A-GE screaming as much as it could. Not a match for a turbo SR20 and it seemed hopeless, the corolla was going to be caught in the back. But at the top of 4th he noticed the 240sx tail lights were not getting further away....

If you know about JDM swaps you probably know about the gentlemen’s agreement Japan had in 80's and 90's. No car would claim over 300hp and top speed was limited to 180 km/h. 180 km/h = 110mph, you know what cars don't have a 110mph top speed limit? Anything sold in the mother fucking united states of murica you sum bitch! The 240sx did not have its limiter removed and it was stuck doing 110mph thanks to the dope a$$ SR20 swap dawg. The USDM Corolla GT-S slowly winded past 110mph and eventually waved to the 240sx as they passed those clowns. Turns out they were not that great of friends the more I think about it, you know what else doesn't have a 110mph top speed limit? A crown vic police car in Mexico.

To know this car you had to know the 80's. Facebook didn't exist, hell the internet barely existed. Nobody cared what you were doing unless they saw you in person because you couldn’t post something about what you’re doing every 5 seconds (hint, they still don’t care). Before google, before altavista, before geocities, before ebay, before AIM, before yahoo chat, before text messaging, before SMS, back when cameras mattered. You had to order things out of catalogs, you had to write letters, you had to call girls on the phone and ask their parents to talk to them. Privacy existed somewhat. New music was still being created, texting and driving? Nope, you actually held face to face conversations with people it was crazy. Cassette tapes were the highest form of audio technology, portable phones? More like portable cassette players! Some of the greatest games, culture, music, and people were born out of the 80's. This car and weird al are good friends. Does it have a rear view camera? No, it has a fucking mirror, but then again if you need a backup camera you probably can't drive a stick anyways lol. Future security system, manual transmission, nobody can steal your car because nobody can drive them anymore. This car is literally a month younger than I am, and it is in much better shape. Most of the original components are still working fine 32 years later without rebuilds. These cars are non-interference engines, so if the timing belt snaps it doesn’t even matter, they are one of the most reliable engines ever made in a Toyota chassis made right in the middle of their over engineered era of great cars. The engine was so good it was selected for Formula Atlantic use where it made 250hp reliably.

This car has seen some things, whoever owned this car had a heck of an interesting life based on the stuff I found in it when I bought it. This is the last car from my collection that my fiancé is making me sell prior to the wedding to pay for our bills. In any Japanese car collection you have to own an AE86, I’m sorry to tell you but Toyota’s modern throwbacks don’t have near the character or background that the original ones did. The Toyota 86 really should have been called the Sports 600 because it had more in common with that car with the front engine boxer deal than the AE86 chassis code. The FJ Cruiser was an abomination compared to the original FJ-40, 3 windshield wipers and a white roof do not = landcruiser. And the new supra will be based off a BMW Z4? Shoot me. Explain to me why the wealthiest auto manufacturer in the world can’t afford to engineer their own car anymore? Explain why competition in production vehicles is dead. Oh that’s right we don’t care about cars anymore, we just want to stare at our phones non-stop in a self-driving vehicle on the way to where ever we are going.

Well here is a car that I can promise you will separate you from your phone if you have an ounce of driving DNA in your body. This is as good as a factory AE86 ever got in my opinion, the paint job is of course up for debate but it is a rust free AE86 made in 1986 with no sun-roof, GT-S, and factory LSD rear diff (not all of them had the LSD option). This car only has I think 3 owners? It never left NC bought and raised here clean carfax no wrecks. In fact when I ran the car fax it spit out a cover page that said it’s a Corolla what are you worried about? You know how many people have ever hated on or trolled someone because they owned a Corolla GT-S? To date, about zero. BMW, Mustangs, Porsche, 240sx, corvettes, any VW product, they all have stereotypes. Here is a rust free car that has never killed anyone trying to slide out of a cars and coffee meet. Here is a car that started the entire drift culture in the United States via Initial D. Deny it all you want but Fast & Furious started the import car scene here, and Initial D started drifting. You know what was the first star lead car in both of those series? Toyota Corolla and Toyota Supra. Both of which can run 300k miles without any major work easily. The stuff Toyota makes now is junk. May it please the court I rest my case.

Interior: Interior wise thanks to drifting you won’t find a lot of 1986-1987 GT-S cars that still have a mostly complete stock interior in decent shape. Here are the things that are great, dash is not cracked, all controls work including the original radio, shift knob isn’t worn to shit, seats are in pretty good shape, as is the headliner, all the windows work fine, all the electronics work, almost every part is there. Here are the things that are not so great, the front carpet on the drivers side is stained with mud really bad from the previous owner. Was going to replace it with new carpet which is only a couple hundred bucks and a Saturday. Drivers seat belt is toast, won’t retract, the front seats have some piping on the side of the seat back coming loose, the drivers side bolster has a tear at the seam which is the easier one to fix that you can see in the pics. Heater blows luke warm due to a stuck heater control valve in the engine bay cheap fix common part on every Toyota ever made, blower motor works fine, A/C needs to be repaired to work but all components are there has not been removed. All the gauges work, no warning lights on the dash, mileage is 100% original. Last reported miles on carfax a few years back is only 120k. Smells like an older Toyota, they all have the same smell no matter what. Original spare tire is there, back carpet is in good shape as are most of the trim panels. The center console lid is missing, cruise control needs to be hooked back up but it is all there. No water leaks that I am aware of because IT DOESN’T HAVE A SUN ROOF! The drivers door panel is loose, needs to be reattached properly I just haven’t had time. The radio will only accept music made in the 80’s or 90’s, cassette player only works if it likes you. If you can’t get the tape player to work it is because you are either cheating on your wife or just a bad person overall. You don’t need fortune tellers when you have this tape player, rear defroster grid needs a wire soldered on.

Exterior: We have already covered the drunk paint job, it has a paint run that extends all the way down the side of the vehicle on both sides and the fenders need a good polishing with compound. But as you can see in the pics from 10 feet it is a solid looking car and let’s be real, you should be going fast enough nobody can see a paint run, if they have time to notice that you either drive like a bitch or are waiting on your food at Zaxbys. The amount of bass boat flake in the paint is amazing, I know it is hard to see in the pics but trust me when the sun hits the car you’ll understand why it is called a Rainbow Red Rolla or RRR for short. As far as I can tell it has never been in any wrecks, there are some dents to the drivers quarter but nothing major. The car has zero rust that I can see, the undercarriage (I’ve been under there several times doing maintenance) has not a spot of rust. This car had the Toyo Guard package from the factory that undercoats the car and it is spotless under there from what I saw. Zero rust. Does not have the rust on the hatch like most do, and again it is a HARDTOP car no sun-roof. The passenger door you have to pick up on it when you open the handle because the hinges are a little worn. Hood/hatch/gas lid open fine, the hatch struts work great. Headlights pop up and down fine, wipers work fine, all the lights work as of now, hatch can only be released with the key for some reason. The wheels are from a celica GT as is the hood emblem I’m fairly sure. Original windshield does have a small chip that turned into a small crack but hasn’t spread since, since the car has the Toyo Guard package the glass has the VIN# laser etched into it! Back when spending money on packages actually fucking got you something.

Mechanical: Mechanically this car shines and has been well cared for. We just had the timing belt done, got a new belt, new water pump (Toyota part), new thermostat, new fan clutch (sounds like a toyota truck now), valve clearance adjusted, new fuel filter, oil changes, coolant flush, new valve cover gaskets, injectors rebuilt/cleaned, new intake manifold gaskets, new TB gasket, vacuum hoses all checked some replaced, new air filter, new clutch, trans fluid, power star tires, all fluids checked regularly, new rotor and cap, new plugs, new wires, timing set, etc….. The car runs like a woman in Bill Cosby’s front yard. Too soon? Considering in these stories he had access to quaaludes I do not believe it is too soon. TVIS works, car pulls strong to redline, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t burn oil, doesn’t knock, doesn’t overheat, sometimes it doesn’t love cold starts for some reason but it has perfect compression so I’m thinking cold start injector or a coolant temp sensor? No check engine lights, one time it made a weird noise but then it went away, pretty much only thing it has ever done. The power steering belt needs to be replaced it squeaks a lot and it is the most annoying sound known to man. One squirt of WD40 it goes away, just haven’t had time. The brake booster has been bad for awhile, I just capped the hose and quit being a pussy. You do understand people drove vehicles about 3x as heavy without power brakes or disc brakes for decades right? You can replace it if you don’t like having one leg stronger than the other OR learn how to brake with both legs and skip leg day at the gym, win win. The only oil leak is the front main, easy to get to, it leaks pretty good but much easier to fix than the rear main which we did at clutch time. Pretty much all 4AGE leak some sort of oil, older Toyota’s were self lubricating like that, then the EPA shut that down too. Trans shifts beautifully, no noises from the drivetrain, could probably use an alignment but it slides just fine (especially on rainbow road power star tires)! 4AGE = FUN No it doesn’t make as much power as some other 4 cylinders but back in 1984 when these came out look at what the other mass production 4 cylinder engines made power wise then get back to me. It has a sound all to itself and a personality combined with the reliability to get you and your drunk friends to the party and back home, done that many a time in one of these or a Land Cruiser.

If you have an opinion about something I said feel free to tell it to a north american goat, if you have questions about the car feel free to ask I am actually fairly friendly despite being a soulless ginger. All proceeds either go to my future wife’s happiness or my red doberman because they are both way more important and good looking than me.