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When I arrived in Belgium, I was told I had an opportunity to shoot a brand new AE86 that has been sitting in a basement for 25 years. I figured it would be all rotted and rusted out. Boy was I wrong.

At first glance it looks like an AE85 Corolla Levin SR right? Looks can be deceiving.

But why does it say twin cam 16 if its an AE85? It even says GT in the back too? I decided to investigate more.

The interior was pristine. The factory plastic was kept on everything from the seats to the sun visors. It was even left hand drive.

Behold! 48 original kilometers. The owner would have killed me if I reset the trip meter by accident.

Apparently the owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, drove this hachi-roku from the dealership to his house and left it in his basement for the past 25 years.

It was very weird to me to see everything in this condition.

The glove box did not have any gum wrappers or lint in it.

I could not believe thse keys have only been used once. I don’t have this kind of patience and If I had this car I would have driven it already.

After all these years this car still had the new car smell. It smelled like Japan from the eighties.

Even the seats in the rear were wrapped in plastic.

I spent a moment alone in the relic from the past just to enjoy the newness of it.

After 30 minutes, the rest of the Speedhunters kicked me out.

The trunk revealed a spare that still has air in it.

Popping the hood revealed a 4A-GE blue top, confirming this is a mint 100% pure AE86.

The owner drained all the fuel from the gas tank so the fuel lines would not get all gummed up.

130ps of raw Japanese power.

Every now and then he turns the motor over with a wrench just to keep everything nice and oiled.

He removed the battery too.

The tires are original of course. They still had the tire mold prickly’s on them too.

It turns out this is a European model Corolla Sport Coupe GT.

The fixed headlights, the deleted spoiler and the unpainted bumpers make it look like a Japanese AE85.

These mud guards are clean enough to eat off of. The owner had no idea we were coming. This car is always this clean.

Notice the sticker? This car has an OEM clutch type LSD that you could get as an option in the USA. I am guessing the rear end is a 4:3:1 ratio just like our GTS versions too.

Original window sticker from the dealership.

The manuals are still crisp. Even these would sell quickly on ebay.

This car has never been washed and it still shines like the day it left the factory. Every now and then the owner blows the dust off with his breath. I never had the pleasure of seeing a car like this brand new because I was only one year old when the car hit showroom floors. I am very honored to be able to experience a car like this. This really was a time capsule from the eighties. Hopefully one day this car will end up in a Toyota museum, so all the AE86 owners in the world can witness it’s glory.

Larry