Toyota's dedicated a whole car to the Hakone Turnpike

It’ll take only minor knowledge of Japanese car culture to understand why this GT86 special is cool. Named the Toyota 86 Hakone Edition, it’s named after the Hakone Turnpike, one of Japan’s most iconic and revered driving roads. Oh, and it’s a special edition for America, hence the wanton dropping of ‘GT’ from its name.

If there’s an overwhelming feeling of familiarity, that’s because we’ve kinda seen this car before. Back in February, the Japanese market got a special-run 86 called the British Green Limited, painted – of course – a British Racing Green hue that was complimented nicely by tan seats and gold wheels.

This one, however is painted a Hakone Green hue that's complimented nicely by tan seats and gold wheels. Hakone Green isn’t the same as British Racing Green. This definitely isn’t the same car rebranded for a different market. No siree.

Not that we’d mind if it was, because this is a car that remains excellent, not to mention increasingly unique in proposition as it steadfastly sticks to its 197bhp, nat-asp 2.0-litre engine in a world of torque-rich turbos. If there was an offer to drive a Hakone on the road it’s named after, we certainly wouldn’t turn it down…

Other notable extras for this special are a pair of tan ‘key gloves’ – because keys get cold fingertips in the winter, too – and a “unique premium trunk carpet with an embossed 86 logo” which sounds so delightful, the US-friendly ‘panic trunk release’ might even turn out to be superfluous.

Like what you see?