The fuck are you on about? Easily one of the most popular rally cars and belongs in a class of popular classics: eg. Mk2 escorts, evos, classic minis, etc. This is in Ireland at least... don't know about rest of the world
I don't know about famous, but I remember seeing a lot of them in racing back in the 80s.
While in production, the AE86 was a popular choice for showroom stock, Group A, and Group N racing, especially in rallying and circuit races. After production ended, many private teams continued to race the AE86, and it remains a popular choice for rallying and club races today.
Lol no, AE86s are both fixed and pop up and these designation are used for different engine/chassis. The AE86 gets 1.6L 4A-GE, meanwhile AE85 gets the weaker 1.5L 3S-GE.
The difference between pop-up and not pop-up variants is in model: Corolla levin 85/86 doesn't have pop up headlights and
Sprinter trueno 85/86 has them