Each year, on August 6th (8/6) classic Toyota fans, and especially AE86 fans, around the world celebrate the legendary Toyota AE86 chassis. Some of you may not know what the significance of that particular Toyota is, or even what Toyota the 86 refers to. The AE86 is the Toyota code for the 1984-1987 Corolla GTS – a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive, twin-cam, high-revving, joyous machine. If you’re not familiar with the AE86, you may be more familiar with the modern day equivalent – the Toyobaru Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, and in other markets Toyota GT-86.
On the sixth day of the eight month, some fans say a quick prayer to the classic Toyota gods before they fire up their classic Toyota, some fans upload a picture of their favourite classic Toyota, whilst other fans get together to celebrate. Cyrious Garageworks goes one better and each year they host an 86 Bash at their Mississauga shop location to celebrate these classic Toyota icons.
Conveniently located near the Queen Elizabeth Highway, Cyrious is easily accessible for all the Greater Toronto Area Toyota fans, and each year the turnout increases. While the focus of the meet is on the AE86 and classic RWD Toyotas by default, in the spirit of true tuner culture, you don’t need to drive a Toyota to attend, all fanbases are welcome.
Last year, I attended the 86 Bash and I was rewarded by getting to see some of the most gorgeous machines in the GTA and this year was no different. Everything from Pat Cyr’s fire-breathing personal AE86 and pro racecar FR-S, immaculate street-driven 30-year-old Toyota Starlets, a handful of AE86s all built with different purposes and styles in mind, all the way to the gnarliest, custom 1970 Z28 with an LS crate motor, built with the most modern gadgets and toys by Cyrious.
I myself drove up to the meet in a 2015 Scion FR-S Release Series 1.0 – the one with all the fancy aero and exhaust. I wasn’t surprised to see a large turnout of the Toyobarus. Everywhere you looked sat a good-looking modified Scion FR-S or Subaru BRZ. Even with so many gorgeous customized cars at the event, I was approached by a surprising number of people asking me about the blindingly yellow Release Series 1.0 – they were curious about whether or not it was all original… and if it came in any other colour.
There must have been at least 100 cars in attendance and the overflow cars respectfully spilled out onto the other lots. While many different crowds were represented, everyone had the same mentality, a respect and love for classic machinery – in attendance were the Nissan crowd with the legendary S-chassis cars, the Supra crowd, BMW types, Volkswagens, the large VIP crowd, Mazda RX-7s, you name it, it was there, even a couple of lowriders with hydraulics made an appearance.
I’m looking forward to next year’s event, as each year it gets bigger and better. Take a look through the extensive gallery.
