There are two car shows that I never miss every year. One being JCCS (Japanese Classic Car Show) and the other being Toyotafest, thrown by TORC (Toyota Owner's and Restorer's Club). Import Showoff, Hot Import Nights, Eibach's Honda meet, Mitsubishi's MOD, Mazda's Sevenstock and all the rest are all great. But JCCS and Toyotafest are the only two events that draw a large number of old school Japanese imports.
A plethora of Corollas, Celicas and Supras came to fill the legendary grassy fields of the Queen Mary Park in Long Beach, California. Mangos ('71-74 Corolla TE27) came out, 1st generation Celicas ('70-77) came out and plenty of hachirokus ('84-87 Corolla AE86) came out. Supras, MR-2s, Starlets, Coronas, Carinas, Crowns, Cressidas, trucks, SUVs and even models I couldn't name. Seeing all the JZ swaps made me really regret selling my '87 Cressida and the 2JZ I was planning for it. Mark II ('82-86) Supras had JZ swaps, two 1st generation Celicas had JZ swaps and even a X83 (89-92) Cressida had one. A guy like me will never get sick of seeing old school wheels or individual velocity stacks.
Don't get me wrong, this wasn't just an old school event; it was a complete Toyota event. Lexus cars filled up a third of the event showing you how to bag, stretch and tuck a car. The other third of the event was all Scion. Walking through this area made me feel like I was hanging out with the high school kids in the marching band. But even I couldn't deny the badass-ness of an orange-flared turbo xB.
You can always judge the industry weight of an event by the vendors that show up. Of course Toyota, Lexus, Scion and TRD were there. But also, AEM, Cusco, HPI, Koyo, Yokohama and even Source Interlink had a booth (that's us, duh!).
If you're in the Southern California area, never sleep on Toyotafest. Everything from drift, to road race, to old school, to VIP; this show has it all. Over 350 cars on display to showing you how diverse Toyotas can be while taking over the market share.