The Iconic Initial D Garage

If you reduced the entire series to its most recognizable machines, these are the essential cars:

1. Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 · Takumi
2. Mazda RX-7 FD3S · Keisuke
3. Mazda RX-7 FC3S · Ryosuke
4. Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32 · Nakazato
5. Honda Civic EG6 · Shingo
6. Nissan SilEighty RPS13 · Mako & Sayuki
7. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III CE9A · Kyoichi
8. Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 · Wataru
9. Subaru Impreza WRX STI GC8 · Bunta
10. Honda Civic Type R EK9 · Todo School
11. Suzuki Cappuccino EA11R · Sakamoto
12. Honda S2000 AP1 · God Arm
13. Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR34 · God Foot
14. Toyota Supra JZA80 · Minagawa
15. Honda NSX NA1 · Go Hojo
16. Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32 · Rin Hojo
17. Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 2-door · Shinji

By stage…

First Stage

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Takumi / Bunta Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX	AE86
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7 Type R	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7 ∞ III	FC3S
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II	BNR32
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Silvia K’s	S13
Shingo Shoji	Honda Civic SiR-II	EG6
Mako Sato & Sayuki	Nissan SilEighty	RPS13 / S13 front
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia K’s	S13
Itsuki Takeuchi	Toyota Corolla Levin SR	AE85
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Kenta Nakamura	Nissan Silvia Q’s	S14
Akio	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Hiromichi	Nissan Silvia	S13
Eikichi Shimamura	Nissan Skyline GT-R	BNR32
Natsuki’s “Papa”	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	W210

Major First Stage race cars

The core lineup everyone remembers:

AE86 vs FD3S vs R32 GT-R vs EG6 vs SilEighty vs FC3S.

Second Stage

The Emperor arc brings Mitsubishi into the picture in a big way.

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX	AE86
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FC3S
Kyoichi Sudo	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR	CE9A
Seiji Iwaki	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV RS	CN9A
Wataru Akiyama	Toyota Corolla Levin GT-APEX	AE86
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Skyline GT-R	BNR32
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia K’s	S13
Itsuki Takeuchi	Toyota Corolla Levin SR	AE85
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Kenta Nakamura	Nissan Silvia	S14
Papa	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	W210

The important additions

• Lancer Evolution III — CE9A
• Lancer Evolution IV — CN9A
• Wataru’s turbo AE86 Levin

This is also the stage where Takumi’s original 4A-G fails and the Trueno receives the famous high-revving Group A-derived 4A-G race engine.

Extra Stage

Extra Stage focuses heavily on Mako and Sayuki.

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Mako Sato & Sayuki	Nissan SilEighty	RPS13 / S13 front
Shingo Shoji	Honda Civic SiR-II	EG6
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Skyline GT-R	BNR32
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno	AE86
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia K’s	S13
Satake	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV	CN9A
Ren Nogami	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV	CN9A
Miyahara	Toyota MR2	SW20

The SilEighty is naturally the star here.

Third Stage

The movie introduces two particularly memorable opponents.

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX	AE86
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FC3S
Kyoichi Sudo	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III	CE9A
Kai Kogashiwa	Toyota MR2 G-Limited	SW20
Miki	Toyota Celica GT-Four	ST205
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Skyline GT-R	BNR32
Shingo Shoji	Honda Civic	EG6
Mako & Sayuki	Nissan SilEighty	RPS13
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia	S13
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Papa	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	W210

Notable newcomers

Toyota MR2 SW20

Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive. Kai uses its unusual weight distribution and the Irohazaka hairpins to perform his famous jumps.

Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

Turbocharged AWD. Miki drives it during the snow chase.

Fourth Stage

Now we get Project D, and the car roster gets much larger.

Project D

Driver	Car	Chassis
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX	AE86
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FC3S

Seven Star Leaf

Driver	Car	Chassis
Toru Suetsugu	Eunos Roadster / Mazda MX-5	NA6CE
Atsuro Kawai	Nissan Skyline 25GT Turbo	ER34

Todo School

Driver	Car	Chassis
Daiki Ninomiya	Honda Civic Type R	EK9
Smiley Sakai	Honda Integra Type R	DC2
Tomoyuki Tachi / Todo School demo car	Honda Civic Type R	EK9

Northern Saitama Alliance

Driver	Car	Chassis
Nobuhiko Akiyama	Toyota Altezza RS200	SXE10
Sakamoto	Suzuki Cappuccino	EA11R
Wataru Akiyama	Toyota Corolla Levin GT-APEX	AE86

Kyoko / Racing Team

Driver	Car	Chassis
Kyoko Iwase	Mazda RX-7	FD3S

Yes: FD vs FD.

Tsuchisaka Evo Team

Driver	Car	Chassis
Aikawa	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V	CP9A
Ichijo	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI	CP9A

These are the guys responsible for the infamous oil-on-the-road incident.

Purple Shadow

Driver	Car	Chassis
Toshiya “God Arm” Joshima	Honda S2000	AP1
Kozo “God Foot” Hoshino	Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II Nür	BNR34

Two of the most serious cars/driver combinations in the series.

Other Fourth Stage cars

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Bunta Fujiwara	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	GC8
Itsuki Takeuchi	Toyota Corolla Levin SR	AE85
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia	S13
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Kenta Nakamura	Nissan Silvia	S14
Two Guys From Tokyo	Nissan Silvia Spec-R	S15

Extra Stage 2

This OVA overlaps chronologically with the early Project D period.

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Mako Sato & Sayuki	Nissan SilEighty	RPS13
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno	AE86
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia K’s	S13
Itsuki Takeuchi	Toyota Corolla Levin SR	AE85
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Toru Suetsugu	Eunos Roadster	NA6CE
Daiki Ninomiya	Honda Civic Type R	EK9
Todo School	Honda Civic Type R demo car	EK9
Altezza Guys	Toyota Altezza RS200	SXE10

Fifth Stage

Fifth Stage brings Project D into Kanagawa and introduces some of the newest cars in the original series.

Project D

Driver	Car	Chassis
Takumi Fujiwara	Toyota Sprinter Trueno	AE86
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FC3S

Team 246

Driver	Car	Chassis
Kobayakawa	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	CT9A
Satoshi Omiya	Mazda Roadster RS	NB8C

Team Spiral

Driver	Car	Chassis
Ryuji “Zero” Ikeda	Nissan Fairlady Z Version S	Z33
Hiroya Okuyama	Nissan Silvia Spec-R	S15

Racing Team Katagiri Street Version

Driver	Car	Chassis
Hideo Minagawa	Toyota Supra RZ	JZA80
Kai Kogashiwa	Toyota MR-S	ZZW30

Kai has therefore driven both:

SW20 MR2 → ZZW30 MR-S

in the series.

Sidewinder

Driver	Car	Chassis
Go Hojo	Honda NSX	NA1
Rin “Grim Reaper” Hojo	Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II	BNR32
Shinji Inui	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX 2-door	AE86

Shinji’s AE86 is important because it isn’t the same body as Takumi’s.

Takumi: AE86 3-door hatchback Trueno

Shinji: AE86 2-door coupe Trueno

Other Fifth Stage appearances

Driver / Owner	Car	Chassis
Bunta Fujiwara	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	GC8
Wataru Akiyama	Toyota Corolla Levin	AE86
Ken Kogashiwa	Toyota MR2	SW20
Shingo Shoji	Honda Civic	EG6
Koichiro Iketani	Nissan Silvia	S13
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13
Itsuki Takeuchi	Toyota Corolla Levin	AE85
Fake Takumi	Toyota Sprinter Trueno	AE86
Fake Keisuke	Mazda RX-7	FD3S

Final Stage

Final Stage is almost entirely centered around the last downhill battle.

Final Battle

Takumi Fujiwara

Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX — AE86

• 3-door hatchback
• FR
• High-revving 4A-G race engine
• Takumi’s legendary Eight-Six

Shinji Inui

Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX — AE86

• 2-door coupe
• FR
• Naturally aspirated 4A-G
• Extremely experienced local downhill car

So the final battle of the entire original series is:

AE86 vs AE86

Specifically:

3-door Trueno vs 2-door Trueno.

Other character cars appearing during Final Stage include:

Driver	Car	Chassis
Keisuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FD3S
Ryosuke Takahashi	Mazda RX-7	FC3S
Bunta Fujiwara	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	GC8
Go Hojo	Honda NSX	NA1
Kyoichi Sudo	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III	CE9A
Takeshi Nakazato	Nissan Skyline GT-R	BNR32
Shingo Shoji	Honda Civic	EG6
Mako Sato & Sayuki	Nissan SilEighty	RPS13
Daiki Ninomiya	Honda Civic Type R	EK9
Kenji	Nissan 180SX	RPS13

Unique Performance Cars Across the Anime

Removing repeat appearances gives approximately this core roster:

Toyota

• Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX AE86 3-door
• Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX AE86 2-door
• Corolla Levin GT-APEX AE86
• Corolla Levin SR AE85
• MR2 SW20
• Celica GT-Four ST205
• Altezza RS200 SXE10
• Supra RZ JZA80
• MR-S ZZW30

Nissan

• Skyline GT-R BNR32
• Skyline GT-R BNR34
• Skyline 25GT Turbo ER34
• Silvia S13
• Silvia S14
• Silvia Spec-R S15
• 180SX RPS13
• SilEighty RPS13/S13
• Fairlady Z Z33

Mazda / Eunos

• RX-7 FC3S
• RX-7 FD3S
• Eunos Roadster NA6CE
• Mazda Roadster NB8C

Honda

• Civic SiR-II EG6
• Civic Type R EK9
• Integra Type R DC2
• S2000 AP1
• NSX NA1

Mitsubishi

• Lancer Evolution III CE9A
• Lancer Evolution IV CN9A
• Lancer Evolution V CP9A
• Lancer Evolution VI CP9A
• Lancer Evolution VII CT9A

Subaru

• Impreza WRX STI GC8

Suzuki

• Cappuccino EA11R

Mercedes-Benz

• E-Class W210

Photo gallery

Every name in the iconic roster above links to a reference still in the gallery below. Click a car label to jump straight to that image.

Anime reference stills for cruise build inspiration. Initial D imagery © Kodansha and respective rights holders. Used for identification and commentary.