Since its introduction in 2012, more than 200,000 units of the Toyota 86 were sold around the world, solidifying its place in the history books as one of the most popular front-engine/rear-wheel-drive compact sports cars of all time.

Nine years after the 86’s debut, Toyota introduced the GR86, a high-performance version of the car that wore the Gazoo Racing badge (GR). While maintaining the virtues of the original car, namely a lightweight body and superb handling, Toyota engineers equipped the GR86 with a larger engine. Under the hood was a 2.4-litre flat-4 that replaced the 2.0-litre variant. Power came in at an impressive 231 BHP / 7,000 rpm with a maximum torque peaking at 25.5 kgfm / 3,700 rpm. This translated to a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 6.3 seconds, which was a stark improvement over the 7.4 seconds of the first-generation model.

To enhance the 86’s handling, the company’s chassis engineers stiffened the body and adopted aluminium in the roof panel to lower the centre of gravity, as well as reduce overall height. With the GR86, Toyota offered sports-car enthusiasts exactly what they were hoping for with the 86: a meaner, faster version of the car that was designed for the race track.