Identifying an 86

I am a new member here so excuse me if this has been discussed before. i DID do a search and came up empty.

background: former driver of a 99 G20t, crashed it and now im looking for a new car.

what i want to know is is there anyone i can tell if a car is an 86 by lookin at the body or the engine bay, is there some type of code in the VIN number that will help me? i am pretty new to this car but i have been reading a lot of great reviews and a lot of tech talk from three different forums.

there is one car in particular that im looking at, its an 88 corolla. i have no idea if its sr5 or gts, im hoping its a gts and twin cam. but most of all i wish it was an 86.

i dont wanna misidentify the car and buy the wrong one.

thank you,

TimV

The vin number is either going to start with AE86(SR5) or AE88(GTS). The year is 1984-1987. The number under the hood on the back firewall is going to start with AE86 no matter what it is.

the ae86, was produced, from 83' to 87'. the rego would tell you if it was betwwen those. i live in australia, so they are not know as gts and sr5, remember, there all american delivered so, gts and sr5 wont be in any vin number, here is a picture of one, notice that the rear has a fast back look to it, you wont find any corolla other then a sprinter that has that. most them a tiny and more hacher. you also have the coupe version as well.

http://img155.exs.cx/img155/9209/IMGP84.jpg

I didn't say the vin had GTS or SR5, I said they had AE86 or AE88. You're right though, that is in the states. I don't know what they would have in the land down under, I'm guessing they would still have AE__. I didn't see any when I was down there, maybe next time.

Being its an 88. Its not going to be what you think and i believe that after 87 they were front wheel drive. another way to tell front or rear wheel drive is by looking at the engine...if the valve cover (just mentioning the most noticable part) is going up and down (i.e pointing torwards you and the windshield) its rear wheel drive. and if its pointing from side to side its not. but hell if im wrong and its rear wheel drive i would get it anyway

This may be useless to the original poster but to the original question, my response:

I live in the U.S. and the U.S. equivalent to an AE86 (JAPAN) would be the Corolla GT-S. The U.S. equivalent to an AE85 (JAPAN) would be the Corolla SR5. All U.S. models will have the original chassis code stamped in the firewall which will indicate it's an AE86 but the VIN#'s will reflect an AE88 for the US market. As stated, if you are indeed looking at an 1988 model, it will be the FWD version and according to the chassis code, it would be an AE92 (JAPAN). The last RWD corollas were produced between 1984-1987 with the GT-S being available from 1985-1987 (US). To enhance your Toyota knowledge a bit, the chassis code breaks down like this:

The first letter(s) signifies the series of engine the vehicle uses.
A-A series engine (4AGE for the GT-S and 4AC for the SR5)

The second letter(s) signifies the car itself.
E-Corolla

The first number(s) signifies the generation of that vehicle.
8-Eighth generation

The last number(s) siginifes the variation of the particular model.
6-Sixth Variation

If looking under the hood, if it is still equipped with the stock timing belt cover, it will have a 4AGE emblem/logo on it. The 4AGE is a twincam motor versus a single cam motor like the 4AC. Also, the 4AGE is fuel injected and the 4AC is carbuerated. The generation afterwards still have the same trim levels (GT-S and SR5) and I'm not sure if the engine is the same for the SR5 but the GT-S still uses a 4AGE (slightly different though).

SR5 Engine Bay Picture:
http://uploads.drift86.com/new/melvin%20ae85.jpg

GT-S Engine Bay Picture:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/stock86/coupe08.jpg