Toyota UK is working on a new racing version of the GT86 to bring back the famous Team Toyota GB name at this year’s Britcar 24 hour endurance race. The car will compete in the Production Class of the Silverstone enduro, and today they revealed the livery it will be sporting, which is inspired by the double British Touring Car Championship winning AE86 from the mid-1980s.

The same team of engineers at the Buckinghamshire technical centre of GPRM who are responsible for Toyota Avensis BTCC racer are turning a stock GT86 into a tough track machine, with focus on its 197bhp flat-four engine. They wan to retain as much of the standard road car’s specification as possible to show how good the base car really is.

With its low center of gravity, and poised and precise chassis, the GT86 is a great track car, and with Toyota’s natural reliability, it has a good chance of doing pretty good at the endurance race. The car has proved its worth once before at the Nurburgring 24 hours. They do need to boost the power though.

An announcement on who will drive the GT86 in the 24 Hours will be made in coming weeks. The race will take place on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of 22 and 23 September.

GPRM’s Gary Blackham and Roger King will oversee Team Toyota GB, and Blackham believes the GT86 will be a strong contender: “The new Toyota has all the makings of a great production class racer. We are concentrating our efforts on stripping back the chassis, lightening and strengthening it and of course equipping it with a roll cage and all the other safety gear required, as well as quick-refuelling equipment. Other than that, the GT86 will remain essentially in road car form.”