Toyota Corolla Levin reimagined

Drifting its way to the top of the mind when people think of iconic Toyota sports cars is the fourth-generation Corolla Levin.

Commonly referred to by its AE86 codename, it has earned itself legendary status in the eyes of car enthusiasts – all thanks to its spirited rear-wheel drive drift-happy goodness.

The aptly named modern Toyota 86 may be considered a younger sibling to the AE86, with its Wheels Car of the Year-winning “affordable [and] involving driving enjoyment”, yet it is not truly faithful to the original design.

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With this in mind, designer Theottle has imagined a modern Toyota Corolla Levin three-door coupé.

The renderings put forward a new take on the AE86 and the famous tofu delivery car from Japanese street racing series, Initial D.

Despite sharing a large extent of its exterior styling with the front-wheel driven Corolla hatchback, the rendering is based on the new-generation GR 86 body.

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Bringing present-day styling to the table, the images represent a sleeker design over the original Corolla Levin, with body-coloured panels and an upright, hatch-like C-pillar.

Up front, the styling looks identical to the Japanese-market Corolla, with design changes centred around side and rear profiles.

In a similar fashion to the new GR 86, the Corolla Levin sports large side skirts and front doors, with the rear doors of the regular Corolla hatchback removed. Out back, the sloping roof and tailgate are matched by a sportier rear bumper and larger dual exhaust pipes.

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Wearing a black bonnet and stripes, as well as 'Fujiwara Tofu Shop' side decals, the second image takes clear inspiration from the car driven by Takumi Fujiwara in the Initial D series of magazines and anime television.

The bad news? A decline in three-door hatch and coupé sales in recent years has sparked the death of the likes of Honda’s Civic Coupe and Volkswagen’s three-door Golf GTI, effectively bringing the idea of a modern-take on the Corolla Levin far from even the back-burner at Toyota HQ.

There is still a glimmer of hope for Toyota sports car fans, with a recent addition to the company’s US website seeing “GR hot hatch” added to the ‘upcoming vehicles’ section.

Although Toyota has remained tight-lipped on exactly which model the Gazoo Racing hot hatch will be based on, it is widely speculated to be similar to the current-generation Corolla – a debut that is expected to occur in 2022, if true.