The Best Cars, Trucks and Classics from the 2017 All Toyotafest 2017

Every year for more than two decades, Toyota enthusiasts from all over the country gather in Long Beach, California for All Toyotafest, the nation’s largest Toyota-only car show.

Organized by the Toyota Owner’s & Restorer’s Club, this year the 22nd Annual All Toyotafest was the largest ever with well over 500 cars filling the massive Marina Green Park just across the harbor from the majestic Queen Mary.

With rain clouds looming we arrived early to look around and photograph the best cars before the big crowds arrived.  The show car line already stretched half the length of Shoreline Drive with beautifully modified Toyotas, Scions and Lexuses.

The Facebook and YouTube famous 10 hour 2017 Lexus RC350, which was completely modified live and in real time as the world watched back in March, was displayed in the Lexus booth. The car received a new suspension, wheels, tires, engine mods and full wrap. It looks great in person.

Also in the Lexus booth was the all-new and drop dead gorgeous 2018 Lexus LC 500, the brand’s new super coupe. The rear-wheel drive four-seater is powered by a 471 horsepower 5.0-liter V8 and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Prices start at $92,000.

The Toyota USA Automobile Museum also sponsored the event and brought out numerous classics from its sizable collection. Two of my favorites were this perfectly restored and very red 1965 Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser pickup and this blue and white 1964 Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser. Both cost about $3,500 back in the day and are powered by an inline six-cylinder making 135 horsepower.

Over in the Toyota booth we found this slightly modified example of the brand’s newest small crossover, the 2018 Toyota C-HR. This little four-door hatchback just hit the market and is proving popular with its exciting design and peppy 144 horsepower 2.0-liter engine. This one looks great on a set of custom wheels.

What goes on at a car show? Well…this. People stand around and talk about cars. Brandon Elzner’s mildly modified 1989 Supra sure was popular. Sold from 1986-1993, the second-gen Supra still has a strong following. As you can Elzner’s was one of many examples that made the show.

This beast is an extensively modified 2017 Toyota Tundra. Among its impressive aftermarket hardware is a long travel suspension system from Camburg, as well as the brand’s billet race hubs and rear end housings. Under the hood is a Magnuson supercharger that pumps up the Tundra’s 5.7-liter V8 to 550 hp.

Who says minivans can’t be cool? This Toyota Sienna R-Tuned has been made racetrack ready by the folks inside the auto manufacturer and DG-Spec, a performance shop in Southern California. Aftermarket Enkei wheels, Nitto tires and MCS suspension have been installed along with a roll-bar, racing seats and seat belts.  

If a racer minivan isn’t weird enough, how about a one-off six-wheeled and stretched classic Toyota Land Cruiser with two rear axles? This one was brought out by the gang at Specter Off-Road, a Land Cruiser Parts and Accessories company headquartered in nearby Chatsworth, CA since 1983.

Not everything at a car show is bright and shiny. Not anymore. Original classics, like this rusty old Land Cruiser pickup, are all the rage. And the more original they are the more popular they are. Oh, and that’s not rust, it’s patina. As the old saying goes, they’re only original once. If anyone restores this thing kill them.

What suspension kit is that, Rancho? No, I think it’s Bilstein, maybe Fabtech. The most recent generation of the Toyota FJ continues to be extremely popular with the off-road community, as well as Toyota enthusiasts, and there were many displayed at Toyotafest. This was my favorite. Look closer, notice the body damage? This is no pampered show truck. It sees the trail.

Restored Japanese compact pickups from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s have become red hot and are quickly gaining popularity. One look at Carlos Araiza’s 1981 Toyota Hilux and it’s easy to see why. These trucks are just cool. Araiza’s has a nice lift and bigger tires for added tough, but those graphics are factory.

But the coolest truck at Toyotafest was Jack Russo’s 1987 pickup, an exact replica of the Toyota Michael J. Fox receives as a gift from his parents at the end of the 1980’s blockbuster Back to the Future. In the Toyota world, the Marty McFly movie truck has gained cult status. It’s the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am of Toyotas.

Just how true is Russo’s black Toyota to the movie truck? Right down to his Hill Valley, California license plate frame, which references the fictional Northern California town Marty McFly called home in the film. The license place is cool too.

Toyota’s 4Runner SUV has been popular with the off-road community since the 1980s. Today’s 4Runner continues that legacy, although with more luxury and comfort thrown in. Kyle Casilan’s mildly-modified 2014 4Runner is a perfect example of how cool these trucks can be with a lift kit and cool wheels.

The smallest custom at the show had to be this 2012 Scion iQ owned and heavily modified by Joe Gallardo. Notice the Lamborghini doors, the huge diameter wheels and the big sound system and rear mounted monitor. I also dig the license place and the Lexus badging was a deft touch.

You just can’t have a Toyota show without a gaggle of modified Priuses, and there were plenty on hand representing the hybrid’s second, third and fourth generations. The 2015 Prius on the left, owned by Ronaljim Reyes, is an example of how to do it right.

The wildest Prius at the event was this outrageous second-gen owned by Nazarly Kalyuta. You can’t miss the camo wrap, but notice the other body mods like the flared wheel wells, cut fenders and unusual rocker moldings. The wheels are from a BMW 7 Series. 

Toyotafest is not just a boy’s club. Not even close. That’s Amanda Nilan cleaning the wheels on her beautiful and very modified 2011 Scion xB, which has been lowered and has a cold air intake for more engine performance.

Sonkei Blue is a clothing brand with a worthwhile mission, to help bridge the gap between today’s youth and law enforcement. To advance that mission the company displayed this awesome Land Cruiser J80 at All Toyotafest, which was sold between 1991 and 1997, in LAPD livery.

This classic Land Cruiser pickup caught my eye because of its flawless restoration and sublime lift, but a quick look under the hood blew my mind. It’s powered by an LS V8 out of a new Chevy Tahoe and the installation was as perfect as its red paint.

Every generation of the Toyota Celica has a following, but these first generation cars, sold from 1971-1977, have become extremely popular and very collectable. And there were many examples at Toyotafest. My favorite was 1977 Liftback GT owned by Richard Pope. It’s perfect, right down to its blue California license plates.

Toyota has sold more Corollas around the world than any other car in history, but we’ve never seen one quite like this 2009 Corolla, which is owned by Jose Luis Ayala Alvarado. No, his rear suspension isn’t broken. That’s just how his likes it with as much negative camber as possible. It’s a style.

Toyota never made a convertible version of the first-generation of its MR2 sports car, but that didn’t stop Modern Motors in Torrance, California from building 18 topless examples of the two-seater back in 1987. This is a rare bird and is still in the collection of the original owner. Very cool.  

Toyota’s latest sports car is the Scion FR-S, which recently switched names and has become the Toyota 86. Whatever you call it, the small rear-wheel drive sports coupe is beloved and a throng of them, from mild to wild, showed up at Toyotafest including this wide body baby.

Toyota sold the J60 Land Cruiser throughout the 1980s and they’ve been desired ever since. This simple example, a 1991 model owned by Brendna Taft, attracted us to its authentic nature and its appropriate license plate, ARMGDDN.

If you don’t recognize this Toyota Corolla AE86 than grab your phone and Google Initial D. The illustrated stories by Shuichi Shigeno helped make the lightweight coupe bodystyle of the rear-wheel drive fifth-generation of the Corolla a cult classic. Stephen Man’s replica is perfect. He drove it from Arizona for the event.

Dozens of fourth-generation Toyota Supras were on display. My favorite was this very black 1997 Turbo model owned by James Nguyen. The subtle body modifications, including the JDM hood scoop, just look right, as do the wheels.

Alicia Drummond brought out her extremely low 2013 Scion FR-S. Modifications include a body kit, dropped suspension and larger wheels and tire.

Throughout All Toyotafest, license plates from as far north as Minnesota, as far east as New Jersey, and as far south at Louisiana were spotted. Also, more personalized plates than I could count - some clever, some cryptic. This one was my favorite.  

The rear-wheel drive Lexus GS continues to be extremely popular, especially the second-generation of the luxury sedan sold from the late 1990s to 2004.

There was something about Jai Karlson Enriquez’s 1991 Toyota MR2 that I found intriguing. Maybe it was the Japanese license plate or the low profile headlight treatment. The second-generation of Toyota’s mid-engine two-seat sports car are forever cool.

Exciting? No. But Allan Schein’s perfectly preserved and wonderfully stock 1992 Lexus LS is a time capsule to remind us all where Lexus began. Only the wheels have been changed. Otherwise, this is how Lexus built them 25 years ago.

Every generation of Toyota’s two-seat mid-engine MR2 sport car was represented at Toyotafest. And there were many examples of the models third generation, including a handful with the rarely seen factory hardtop.

These two guys drove this heavily modified 2006 Lexus IS 350 from Arizona. It belongs to Drew Meyer, the guy wiping the sedan’s rear end, who was quick to point out the green is no wrap. It’s paint. The wide body kit is as outrageous as is the grille fitted from a 2017 IS. There’s a lot of time and effort that went into this one.

The first-generation of the Lexus IS continues to be very popular. The small rear-wheel drive sedan debuted back in 1999 and several dozen were to be seen at Toyotafest including this modified black 2002 example owned by Dean Collis.  

The wildest car of the show has to be Joe Meer’s Avatruck. It was a 2000 Toyota Avalon sedan that Meer converted into a pickup truck. He says he drives it daily and it earns its keep as a Home Depot runner for the family

Meer’s creation is just as inspired form the rear, where you can see the Avalon’s trunk lid has become a tailgate. The bed is protected by a coating of bedliner for those Home Depot runs.

It can’t be a Toyota show without a Camry and there were many to choose from. Jon Ronquillo’s 2008 Camry, with its slammed stance and beautiful wheels, was my favorite.

The award for the wildest exhaust system goes to this guy. Other JDM style touches on this Cressida include the stance, flares, bodykit and the subway/train handle hanging from its rear bumper.

Toyota built family trucksters too. And there were two such Cressida’s, both with woodgrain, at Toyotafest. The Just Married and the Cajun license plate made this a favorite.

This slightly modified 2017 Lexus RC F stood out with its stealth black paint and subtle modifications like its larger wheels, lowered stance and fender vent trim.

Toyota still sells a version of the Land Cruiser. Also found in the Toyota booth was this 2018 Land Cruiser, which has been improved with an all new look, including a new chrome grille and headlights.

Few remember that Lexus sold a wagon version of the first-generation Lexus IS. But there were a few on display at Toyotafest. This one wore a bodykit and attractive 7-spoke alloy wheels.

And in the Lexus display was this tasty treat, the 2017 Lexus IS Sriracha edition. Yes, Lexus partnered with Huy Fong Foods and West Coast Customs to create this hot and saucy one-off.