Chapter 001

The Eight-Six (ハチロク買おーぜ, Hachi Roku Kaōze, "Let's Buy an Eight-Six") is the first chapter of Initial D.

Plot
At night, a panda coloured Toyota Sprinter Trueno is seen speeding downhill on Mount Akina in Gunma Prefecture.

During the day at Shibukawa High School, Itsuki Takeuchi excitedly talks to his friend, Takumi Fujiwara, about cars, with him eventually settling on buying an "Eight-Six", as it would be more affordable (it would only cost him ¥300,000). Takumi states that they could work the whole summer and wouldn't even make ¥100,000, before they are interrupted by the arrival of Natsuki Mogi. Natsuki asks the pair what sort of job the pair work to only get ¥100,000 a month, becoming shocked by the fact that they earn so little despite working 5/6 days a week, something that Itsuki states is the standard for high school students. Natsuki leaves and Takumi explains to Itsuki that the two of them haven't spoken to each other in a year, due to an incident where Takumi had punched her boyfriend at the time because he had pissed him off after soccer practice.

Takumi and Itsuki leave school and head off to their job at the local gas station. On the way there, Itsuki has the idea that him and Takumi should put their money together and buy the Eight-Six that he had been talking about before. Takumi asks why Itsuki doesn't just drive his dad's car, to which Itsuki responds by calling it an antique, due to it having a diesel engine and automatic transmission. Itsuki then explains that he doesn't see the point of having a car if you can't take it up the mountain, which Takumi responds to by saying that driving the mountain means nothing to him. Itsuki says that Takumi almost sounds bored of driving before inviting him play video games before work.

Elsewhere, Natsuki meets a man who drives a Mercedes-Benz 190E who she calls "Papa" (changed to "Baby" in the Tokyopop version), as they drive she talks about her previous conversation with Takumi and Itsuki and asks the man if she's worth all the money that he spends on her.

At the gas station that they work at, Itsuki reiterates his idea of him and Takumi buying an Eight-Six, they are overheard by their co-worker, Koichiro Iketani, who agrees that getting an Eight-Six isn't a bad idea. Takumi then reveals that he doesn't know what an Eight-Six is and asks if it's a Mazda, shocking Itsuki and Iketani. Iketani then explains that an Eight-Six is a Toyota that would have came out when Itsuki and Takumi were in grade school. Iketani then invites the two of them to come up Mount Akina with his team the Akina SpeedStars and offers to drive them up in his Nissan Silvia S13. Later, as Takumi and Itsuki leave work to head home, Iketani talks to the owner of the gas station, Yuichi Tachibana, who tells him about the fastest driver on Akina, a tofu shop owner who drives an Eight-Six.

At home, Takumi thinks about what Natsuki had said to him earlier, and thinks back to when he had punched her boyfriend because he was bragging about his sexual relationship with her. Takumi goes to meet Itsuki and Iketani, and talks to his father, Bunta, before leaving. While closing his gas station, Yuichi notices some racers heading up to Mount Akina, who he believes aren't locals. Meanwhile, Iketani and the rest of the Akina SpeedStars are heading up the mountain, with Itsuki and a nervous Takumi riding along with them. At the top of the mountain Takumi says that he feels ill and, after being teased by Itsuki, explains that Iketani's driving scares him even though roller-coasters don't.

At the same time, Yuichi calls Bunta to catch up. Yuichi mentions having seen Bunta's Eight-Six on a few occasions, noting that he had waved to him but he hadn't responded, to which Bunta responds to by informing him that Takumi was the one driving, as he has been doing the deliveries for five years.

Back on the top of the mountain, the Akina SpeedStars are shocked to see a team from outside Akina join them, the team announces themselves as the Akagi RedSuns, the fastest racers on Mount Akagi. The chapter ends with Keisuke Takahashi asking who the fastest racer on Mount Akina is.

Japan

 * June 26th 1995 (Weekly Young Magazine)
 * November 6th 1995 (Tankōbon, Volume 01)

Chinese

 * January 1st 1998 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Sharp Point Press)

English

 * May 21st 2002 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Tokyopop)
 * April 17th 2019 (Digital re-release, Volume 01, Kodansha USA)

French

 * January 14th 2009 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Kazé)

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Takumi Fujiwara
 * Natsuki Mogi
 * Papa
 * Koichiro Iketani
 * Yuichi Tachibana
 * Miki (Flashback)
 * Bunta Fujiwara
 * Keisuke Takahashi
 * Ryosuke Takahashi

Cars (in order of appearance)

 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX 3-Door (AE86)
 * Mercedes-Benz 190E
 * Nissan Silvia K's (S13)
 * Nissan 180SX Type II (RPS13)
 * Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)

Quotes

 * "A car's a car, Itsuki. It's got four wheels and runs, right?" - Takumi

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA version

 * It is stated that this chapter is set in Summer 1996, differing from the standard "Summer 199X" that is given in other versions.
 * Removes or translates several sound effects
 * The amounts of Yen that are mentioned are slightly changed
 * Certain text bubbles have been moved/removed
 * Pages are cropped differently, cutting off part of the artwork
 * Natsuki Mogi doesn't refer to Papa by name, instead suggesting that he is just her boyfriend

Kazé version

 * Translates all sound effects into French
 * Pages are cropped differently, cutting off part of the artwork