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Ford Mustang AE86 Is the Japanese Muscle Car

As those of you who follow our Speed Shot tales (there's a tag for that below) are well aware, the world of social media brims with alternate universes fueled by fan art. And the one on our screens right now, which revolves around a rendering, proposes a new take on Japanese street racing manga series Initial D, which was launched back in 1995.
Ford Mustang AE86 rendering 3 photos
Photo: carfrontswaps/instagram
Ford Mustang AE86 renderingFord Mustang AE86 rendering
Whether you've read the comics or enjoyed the franchise in anime TV or original video animation form, you know the actual tale revolves around 17-year-old Takumi Fujiwara. More specifically, it's the story of his transition from your middle-of-the-pack high school figure delivering tofu in his father's Toyota AE86 to a star of the drifting and street racing world.

Well, Instagram label Car Front Swaps has decided to relocate the series to America. And while the choice of cuisine is more or less important to us, we can't say the same about how this pixel transition has affected the said coupe.

As such, we can talk about a pair of renderings that mix the AE86 with the Fox Body Mustang - note that the label went beyond its name and also covered the posterior of the vehicle while adding those food for thought Initial D details.

Sure, the Fox Body 'Stang entered the market in the late 1970s, while the AE86 arrived half a decade later, but the two have more in common than it might appear.

Perhaps the most important similarity between the Fox Body and the Hachi-Roku involves their aftermarket evolution. You see, both the Japanese and American rear-wheel-drive machines had built a reputation as affordable project cars that could evolve into awesome go-fast builds. Alas, with all the attention these machines have received in more recent times (not least thanks to social media), grabbing one on a tight budget is becoming more and more of a challenge.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
Andrei Tutu profile photo

In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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