Four AE86 shells and a body contest: the Hachiroku at 1/10

The contest page lists the eligible bodies as AE86 Corolla Levin 2DR (PAB-3168), Sprinter Trueno 2DR (PAB-3176), Levin 3DR (PAB-3177) and Trueno 3DR (PAB-3178). That is two nameplates, each in two- and three-door form — the kind of split a maker only tools up for when builders are asking for the specific car, not a generic 1980s coupe.

The AE86 Sprinter Trueno 3DR product page gives the numbers that decide whether a shell fits over your chassis: 196 mm wide, 257–260 mm wheelbase. That lands on the standard 1/10 RWD footprint, where roughly 257 mm is the common wheelbase and 190–200 mm the usual body width, so arch clearance comes down to your hex and wheel offset rather than to the shell's proportions.

The page also lists separate bumpers, light parts and wing parts in polycarbonate, with decals and masking supplied, plus a masking download and an explainer video. Separate parts matter for how a Hachiroku reads at this scale: the front end is where the Levin and Trueno diverge in full size, and bumpers and light buckets fitted as their own pieces let the painter back the lamp areas separately instead of trying to fake depth through one clear panel. Whether the Levin and Trueno shells differ anywhere beyond the front end is not something the pages read state.

AE86 BODY CONTEST 2026, posted 06/01/2026, is an online contest for Hachiroku Day, 6 August. The mechanics are deliberately low-friction: build any Pandora RC AE86-series body, existing builds allowed, photograph it with a phone, and DM the photos, a nickname and "what you value most" to the maker's Instagram or X, with #86day2026 and #pandorarc. Entries were unlimited.

The genres named are normal, street, racing and original custom — a framing that treats a stock-looking build as a category rather than a default, which is the right way round for a shell whose detail work is mostly in masking, trim lines and decal placement rather than aero.

Applications opened 8 June, the deadline was 31 July, and finalists were to be announced on 6 August 2026. Finalists receive an exclusive HACHIROKU DAY 2026 FINALIST T-shirt, a feature on the maker's Instagram and event page, and a guaranteed place in the 2027 official lookbook. That last prize is the interesting one: the contest feeds next year's catalog imagery with builders' own paint, which costs the maker a T-shirt and buys a year of pictures.

Who the 2026 finalists were is not on the pages read, so this piece does not name them.

The clearest sign that this shape supports a trade of its own is on Wrap-Up Next's site, where the REAL 3D detail-up decals are cut not for a generic AE86 but for named shells from other manufacturers: the Yokomo HAYASHI AE86 LEVIN, the Yokomo SUNRISE/MARCURY AE86 LEVIN and the HPI AE86 Levin, each in early and late versions.

Model-specific cutting is the whole point of a 3D detail-up set. Grilles, badges, trim and lamp surrounds have to land on the curvature of one particular shell, so a sheet drawn for a Yokomo body will not sit correctly on an HPI one. That a decal maker has committed artwork to three other makers' AE86 bodies, in two front-end eras each, says the car's shells stay on shelves long enough to be worth tooling artwork against.

The obvious cultural reference here is the anime; it is a reference and nothing more, and none of these part numbers rest on it.

The related products on the Trueno 3DR page include an AE86 TRUENO 3DR / TEC ART'S, numbered PAB-4228 — a tuner-branded version of the same three-door shell rather than a replacement for it. YAW's own calendar carries that body at 197 mm wide with a 252–255 mm wheelbase, listed for late October 2026; that date is not confirmed on Pandora RC's pages, so treat it as unconfirmed until the maker posts it.

The narrower wheelbase window on the calendar entry is worth noting if you are planning a build around a fixed chassis setting, because 252–255 mm is not the same install as the 257–260 mm given for the standard Trueno 3DR.

Where to look

• The contest rules and schedule: AE86 BODY CONTEST 2026 on Pandora RC
• Dimensions, included parts, masking download and explainer video: AE86 Sprinter Trueno 3DR
• Model-specific AE86 decal sets: wrapup-next.jp
• The model-number and JAN code notice: linked from pandora-rc.net