Long Beach, CA – If you love your Toyotas, you probably already know about this annual event- this past weekend we attended Toyotafest at the Queen Mary, a car show organized by T.O.R.C (Toyota Owners and Restorers Club). There really isn’t much to say about this event as the name speaks for itself. The event is a showcase of all Toyotas, past and present- if you’re a Toyota enthusiast, there’s probably a car there that you would appreciate- whether it be the exotic LFA, the infamous Supra, the legendary AE86 Corolla, or the poor-excuse-for-an-S2000 MR2 Spyder (kidding). My personal favorites are the “Japanese Muscle” first generation Celicas- perhaps the greatest looking Japanese cars to come out during the 70’s. A Toyota Century (a Japanese market-only limousine) also made a guest appearance, as well as the star-studded 2000GT (known as James Bond’s car in “You Only Live Twice) and S800 (Toyota’s first production sports car).
Apart from the cars themselves, the show was really made for the community- numerous vendors were on hand, many with hard to find classic wares- whether you wanted an original Toyota katakana logo sticker, a classic shift knob, a reprint of a magazine ad of your favorite car, or a branded umbrella.
All in all, Toyotafest is an enjoyable event with a great atmosphere. It’s definitely worth checking out, and you can always explore the Queen Mary afterwards and go ghost hunting. –Dave Luong, Madlight Media
