Pull up T.O.R.C.'s website and it all makes sense - "...to promote the preservation, restoration, modification and use of pre-1985 Toyota models." That's what the Toyota Owner's and Restorer's Club is there for; kind of like the National Archives of Japanese cars. T.O.R.C opens up its vault of historic automotive paraphernalia but once a year at its All Toyotafest car show held near the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. If the site looks familiar to you, that's because the same people behind T.O.R.C are also responsible for JCCS, the Japanese Classic Car Show, which you may recall coverage of in Turbo's Feb. '07 issue. Like JCCS, the All Toyotafest is free, and with more than 250 members' cars of the Toyota, Lexus and Scion variety on display, it isn't something we wanted to miss. Neither should you.
T.O.R.C.'s pre-1985 cutoff apparently isn't exactly hard and fast though as we saw plenty of late '80s, '90s and even a few '07 models out and about. Toyota, Lexus and Scion all made official appearances displaying everything from the redesigned xB to the impressive IS-F, which somehow manages to cram a 400hp 5.0L V-8 underneath its hood. This little surprise from Lexus made the show all the more worthwhile for those who trekked from destinations as far off as the Midwest and even the East Coast since it's the first time this car's been unveiled outside of the major auto shows. About half the cars on the field exemplified T.O.R.C and carried their respective pre-1985 torches proudly. The other half consisted of small gatherings of VIP Lexus sedans, rock crawler Cruisers, boy racer Scions and a swarm of drift-ready AE86's.
You could call T.O.R.C.'s 12th All Toyotafest a success. Of course, the fact that this year also marks Toyota's 50th anniversary and that the carmaker also announced news just two weeks prior that it's officially surpassed General Motors in overall sales now making it the world's largest automaker didn't hurt.
If you think you're going...
If you think you're going to be different and build an ultra-rare AE86 Corolla, think again. There were at least a dozen well-executed hachi-rokus here.
Anyone who keeps their 7M-GTE...
Anyone who keeps their 7M-GTE in this kind of condition deserves some credit. We especially like the custom GReddy e-Manage enclosure in the front corner.
A super clean MKIII Supra...
A super clean MKIII Supra swap into a MKII. U.S.-spec MKII Supras weren't turbocharged, which makes the 7M-GTE swap all the better.
All-Trac Celicas are a rare...
All-Trac Celicas are a rare sight, even at the All Toyotafest. But with factory turbocharged, all-wheel-drive power, we can't get enough of them.
2JZ-GTE twin-turbo engine...
2JZ-GTE twin-turbo engine swap matched with a MarkIII Supra chassis.
This second generation, turbocharged...
This second generation, turbocharged E20 Corolla was so much cleaner than even a lot of newer cars that we see.
Few cars are as difficult...
Few cars are as difficult to work on as the Toyota MR2; the third generation is no exception. It's all worth it though, things look so good once everything's fit into place.
A little Yaris competition...
A little Yaris competition for Turbo; we bet theirs isn't Blitz supercharged though.
A well put together Scion...
A well put together Scion tC; could be the second best we've seen.
MR2's as far as the eye c...
MR2's as far as the eye can