EVENTS: 15th Annual All Toyotafest, Part II


When everyone from Congress to late night comedians is painting your cars as deathtraps unfit for their worse enemies, follow the lead of GM, Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. Embrace your heritage. Show the haters that no matter how much the media repeatedly bashes your cars, there are die-hard enthusiasts out there who want to congregate around painfully beautiful examples of your past work!


Speaking of painfully beautiful, Racetoys had three TE27s. Each one was slightly different from the others, but together they formed a ninana enthusiast’s dream team. First up was this zenki Corolla Levin (note the corner and headlight bezels) rolling on TOSCO barrels.


In the middle, a kouki Corolla Levin on classic black Wats.


And lastly, a genuine JDM kouki Sprinter Trueno on another set of TOSCOs.


Wheel arch flares, fender mirrors, and twin-cam 2T-Gs, all dipped in proper orange and dark green. Only the zenki Trueno remained elusive.


After our coverage in Part One, someone asked about Cressida wagons. Ask and ye shall receive!


For some reason they were all white, and this MX62 goon was as pure and pristine as the clean fallen snow. With slightly fewer chromey bits and one less wiper for the rear window than the MX72, generational changes certainly fall into the Evolutionary category.


This long hauler makes the one above seem very, very tall. The OG roof rack is a nice touch.


The wheels were simply re-barreled steelies, and if memory serves us correctly, the owner said they were a ludicrous 15×9 on the front and 15×11 on the rear, all under unmolested fender metal (thanks LloyD)!


Everyone should know this golden vision by now, one of three kidney-worthy 2000GTs is owned by the Toyota USA Museum and one of only two made in this color.


The blue Hilux pickup is another Toyota USA museum piece. Despite our ranting, we do want to acknowledge Toyota USA for continuing to support the event year after year. Ever wonder why there’s no Datsunfest? Because, to paraphrase Kanye West, Nissan doesn’t care about enthusiasts.


This beautiful Stout pickup belongs to employees of Cabe Toyota in Long Beach, California. We’ve purchased parts from that dealership many times and can vouch for the fact that many of the employees are true enthusiasts, willing dig deep for your rare parts requests.


Another commenter asked for stock originals. Well, you can’t get any more original than this Celica, the thirteenth one ever built. That’s right, the VIN is a bunch of zeroes and the number 13, and it’s owned by TORC president Joji Luz, who also owns the silver Sports 800 behind it, and the fifth Celica ever built.


The owner of this gorgeous 1975 Celica is part of the NorCal crew that was one of the first to drop Honda F20Cs into  various Toyota bodied cars. Purists will be pleased to know that this car runs a more traditional 22R under the hood.


Celicas with sails unfurled.


The TA10 Toyota Carina is often unfairly overlooked, as it is mechanically identical to the A20 Celica. See the commonality? They are both of the A-chassis family. This Carina was the only one at the show.


Perhaps its styling was a bit more sedanish than the Celica’s, but how can you not love its waterfall taillights? With a slightly more shakotan stance, this could look positively wicked.


Toyota was no stranger to platform sharing, and as we moved further down the family tree we Celicas evolve into long-nosed six-cylinder Supras. In the US, MA61 owners apparently still prefer large diameter wheels and powerful  7M-GTE or JZ engine swaps.


The double hatch spoilers were a MA61 trademark, as was the huge “SUPRA” logo across the rear, both bringing back many memories of acid wash jeans.

We often lament the passing of the RWD Celica, but after seeing this beautiful ST165 All-Trac, our icy hearts just melted. How can you stay mad at a rally-inspired, 3S-GTE powered  AWD hot hatch?


The FJ75LV Land Cruiser is a special duty version of the 70-series. It has a near-two-ton payload and was so expensive (around $30,000 in 1990 dollars) that only governments and the United Nations could afford it.


This one is powered by a US-spec FJ40 engine, but is otherwise chock-full of heavy duty equipment like a one-ton axle, full floating hubs, and a vacuum booster for the power clutch.


This particular one was built for the US Marines for the first Gulf War and has an Arabic VIN plate. If you look closely at the tailgate, you can make out the remains of a “US Marine Corps” decal.


This year’s show was also notable for the ever-increasing number of Cressidas, both MX73 and MX63. We’re inching closer and closer to full-on bosozoku style.


Case in point. Now those are some barrels!


This 1970 RT40 Toyota Corona should have outlived its usefulness many decades ago. But the owner has lovingly kept it alive, and in immaculate condition to boot. It was one of the cleanest specimens we’ve ever seen.


Let’s conclude Part Two with a parting shot of another stunning 2000GT, brought to the show by Toysport. This happens to be the same car we profiled in this article. How many red 2000GTs did you think were in SoCal?

That’s it for now, but there’s still more to come. If you missed it, here’s Part One.

Also, check out coverage from Toyotafest 2009, 2008, and 2007.

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11 Responses to EVENTS: 15th Annual All Toyotafest, Part II

  1. Call me a rip-off if you want to but my next car will pretty much be an exact copy of that orange levin… lord I love that car.

  2. pholife says:

    awesome…part 3 or part 4 – ae86! 🙂

  3. Kenjo says:

    No pictures of any Starlets?

  4. Alan says:

    Here in Chula Vista there’s a daily-driven, street-parked dark green Levin owned by an old man. The paint has a really nice patina and the body is completely straight with all trim. I’ve left several notes on his windshield over the years asking for him to sell well above market value, but have never heard back.

  5. LloyD says:

    those widened steelies on the x7 cressida wagon are actually
    15×9 fronts,
    and 15×11 in the rear !!!

    under stock metal fenders.thankyou.

    SPARKLE GARAGE for life.

  6. Nigel says:

    Cres – sid – a’s , excellent. Very excellent.

  7. rob says:

    the ma61 owners that prefer large diameter wheels usually do to fit over bigger brakes.

  8. Will says:

    So much more to see there.. 2jzgte RA64, 152E RA21, just wow…

  9. 4AGE KE70 says:

    HO!! What?! Is that Toyota KE70 rims right? Is the rim cut and give it extra 2 or 3 inches,COOL!

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