A few weeks ago, I spotted this throwback to Takumi’s AE86, parked confidently on the dashboard of a brand new Scion. Dull as it may seem, sighting the Initial D toy conjured two questions about the iconic legend —

What happened to all the clean AE86s that once roamed these streets? And, what the heck happened to Initial D?

To non-answer the first question — I have no clue. Here in SoCal, spotting a clean modded Hachi-Roku was never a common occurrence. The chances may have been greater here than in other parts of the United States, but still, it was a rarity (unless you count AE86-specific car meets, but that’s cheatin’). And yet, every so often, once every other week, you’d spot this car in some fixed-up form, and it was always awesome. But now, seeing a nicely-built AE86 on the streets is like finding a hot chick with hobbies outside of texting and social media — it never happens.

I pray that most of these majestic beasts are hibernating safely within the homes of their masters. But alas, I fear that most have taken to the junk yards by now, victim to the SUPA-LATE-o-BRAKING crash techniques and sub-minimum wage salaries of their last owners. One can only hope for the best.

To answer the second question, “What happened to Initial D?,” look no further than the internet, more specifically the Initial D Forum, and you’ll see that the second movie in the Initial D Legend trilogy has finally be released to blue ray disc. We can expect fan-subtitles in due time, but be warned that the Super Eurobeat genre of music that debuted with the original anime has been replaced with J-Rock, and the original voice actors have retired. Sad. 🙁

All this from seeing some guy’s (or girl’s) sweet AE86 on the dashboard of his car.