Toyota GT86 | PH Auction Block

Despite turning out even better than expected, it’s still hard not to be disappointed as enthusiasts about the fate of the Toyota GR86. This week’s reveal of a turbocharged concept at SEMA isn’t helping that feeling one bit. And neither are £45k Yarises. For a brief time, Toyota offered three great Gazoo Racing cars in the UK; now there’s only one. Shame. 

While supply was always the main gripe with the GR86, perhaps the bigger frustration was that it arrived so much later than it should’ve done. The genius of that car was that it kept the joy of the GT86 while also meaningfully improving it across the board; what always seemed silly was the old car being left to wither on the vine until 2020, while a closely related replacement didn’t come until 2022. Imagine if the GR could have arrived in 2019 (surely not so silly, with the 2012 launch of the GT), and all the cars that could have been sold in the five years up until now that the platform could last. They wouldn’t still be £30k if that had happened. 

Anyway, shouldn’t be bitter and all that. Especially as there’s a solution at hand: buy a GT86 and modify it. The car was built to be tuned, there are all manner of parts out there, and if no longer depreciating they seem pretty cheap: around £12k should get a good one. Then it could be supercharged, turbocharged, track prepped or whatever takes your fancy, for a whole lot of the GR experience at less money. Won’t be quite the same, of course, but we all know the GT weak spots – and what a brilliant car can result with those addressed. 

In fact, there’s an even better approach than tinkering with a GT86 to make it the sports car it always should have been, and that’s to buy one with the work already done – like this car. Far from being a high mileage beater that’s been running forced induction for a decade, this 2014 GT86 has had more than £9,000 spent on upgrades since 2022. It’s not covered a tonne of miles since then, and is ready for a new owner to banish any GR blues. 

This has had all the good stuff added, too. Lots of work has been undertaken at Litchfield, including its performance pack that should bring another 25hp (with Milltek exhaust), plus a suspension setup that now benefits from Bilstein B8 dampers, Eibach springs and new drop links. Fensport fitted a Tarox big brake kit earlier this year, which comprises six-piston calipers, better pads and braided lines. Any GT86 is really good to drive; with these mods, this one promises to be fantastic.

There are some welcome cosmetic tweaks, too, including those gold, 17-inch Pro Track One rims (fitted last year), a choice of three gearknobs and a smartly retrimmed steering wheel. This isn’t a perfectly preserved example, with age-related scuffs and whatnot, but then neither would you want one of those with the modifications added. Here’s a GT86 to be driven and enjoyed as properly intended, complete with a recent service and advisory-free MOT until next July. 

What more could you ask for? It’s clearly going to cost less than a newish GR; comparable standard cars are around £13k, should that help your bid or offer come next weekend. And with cars like all the 86s unlikely to happen again, good ones look set to remain in demand for a while yet. The original story of the GT may have been one of unfulfilled potential; now lightly modified ones like this look set to enjoy a time as an attainable, attractive, dependable way into a proper rear-drive sports car. You’ll have forgotten about GRs by the first roundabout.