Enlarge / left the BEV concept AE86; on the right the AE86 H2 Concept.
Toyota
I don’t know about you, but I love a good restomod. Restomodding is the practice of taking a classic car and restoring it – while modernizing it at the same time. In the past, that might have meant putting modern AMG powertrains into classic Mercedes-Benz gullwing bodies, but today my focus is more on electric conversions.
Unfortunately, the costs involved are still prohibitive for most of us, but that’s less true if you’re a car company like Ford, General Motors, or Jaguar. Or in today’s case Toyota, which surprised and delighted this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon with two converted AE86 coupes, a car best known for starring in Initial D.
According to Toyota, the idea behind the project was to improve the prospects for carbon neutrality “to protect beloved cars”. The company says it has been working with aftermarket suppliers to rejuvenate old stock and use recycled materials wherever possible.
AE86 BEV concept
Apart from the decals on the side, it would be very difficult to say there is anything unusual about this Toyota AE86 Corolla Levin.
Toyota
Toyota worked with aftermarket suppliers to rejuvenate old stock.
Toyota
Opening the hatch reveals what happened here. The 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine is gone and has been replaced with the electric motor from a Toyota hybrid truck.
Toyota.
The AE86 BEV concept uses a battery pack from a Prius PHEV.
Toyota
The range may not be great, but the BEV concept should be fun while the cells are charged.
“Look ma, no exhaust pipe!”
Toyota
One of the two will likely make more sense to you than the other. The exposed-headlamp car, which uses a Toyota Corolla Levin body, swaps out the donor car’s engine for the electric motor from the new Toyota Tundra hybrid pickup — presumably with a slight increase in power over that engine’s 48 hp (36 kW), though the company is pretty tight on details.
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The battery pack was donated from a Prius plug-in hybrid. The meager 8.8kWh battery would limit the car’s practical range, but you’d probably have fun running it down. Toyota has retained the AE86’s gearbox – a practice common to less powerful EV restomods – and the company says that when combined with the “robust driving force characteristics of a battery electric vehicle” you get a vehicle that’s even more fun to drive than that genuine.”
AE86 H2 concept
The second restomod is even more fascinating. Based on the Sprinter Trueno body with a pop-up headlight, this one is called the AE86 H2 Concept and runs on hydrogen. And like a new one-off race car being promoted by Toyota President Akio Toyoda, the AE86 H2 Concept uses the fuel in an internal combustion engine, not a fuel cell.
The AE86 H2 Concept uses a Sprinter Trueno shell – note the pop-up headlights, albeit in the closed position.
Toyota
A peek inside the AE86 H2 Concept’s engine bay wouldn’t suggest there’s anything missing for most people. A keen eye will notice the various fuel lines, injectors and spark plugs.
Underneath a gleaming carbon fiber cover in the tailgate you’ll find a pair of H2 tanks from the Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle.
Toyota
The H2 concept has a much less stripped down interior than its BEV concept sibling.
Toyota
The AE86 H2 Concept still has an exhaust pipe, but it should mainly give off vapor.
Toyota
Toyota says that “it will take time for all new vehicles to be CO2 neutral. Simultaneously promoting the CO2 neutralization of not only new vehicles but also vehicles currently used by customers is essential for the future.” But don’t expect any production plans for any of these show cars.
Toyota.
Under the hood, it retains its original 1.6-liter four-cylinder 4A-GE engine and transmission, but if you lifted the tailgate you’d find a pair of hydrogen tanks from the Toyota Mirai fuel cell EV. A careful look inside the engine bay would reveal some new injectors and spark plugs for the fuel change.
Burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine isn’t particularly efficient and doesn’t generate much electricity compared to using petrol, so the AE86 H2 concept might offer inferior performance compared to the original. Toyota said the purpose of the concept is “to create a vehicle that can be driven while enjoying the appeal points of the internal combustion engine in terms of sound and vibration.”
It’s very unlikely that any of these concepts will see production plans, and I doubt we’d get a third-party restomod with a hydrogen internal combustion engine. But it would be cool to see a growing number of EV restomods from the import tuner scene in the years to come.