Toyota Motor Sports Festival Part II

For the second part of this piece, I would like to take a quick look at some of the other activities that were happening throughout the day. From a visitor’s perspective, this year had so much more on offer than last, particularly for children and the ones like you and me who like to get a little hands on!

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For the little ones the ‘Cars’ themed Lightning McQueen GT300 was on display and open for kids (only kids!) to sit in and experience what a real race car is like. Parents and their kids lined up throughout the day to get a snap of their next potential SuperGT star behind the wheel.

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Across from where the Lightning McQueen was parked, Toyota was moving in a whole new direction offering motor bike training lessons for the little ones. Could this be a new territory that Toyota are thinking of venturing into!?

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Birel, the famous kart maker was getting in on the act too with tandem go-karts for kids and their parents. This drivers of this dual steering cart seemed to be having fun zooming around the short course.

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For the Tetris fans young and old, there was a mini competition to see how quickly you could piece the all the different shaped boxes together and throw them into the back of the new Toyota Noah. We’re told no animals were hurt in the process.

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Just inside behind the Noah stand was another different type of carrier, the Paris to Dakar race ready Toyota Land Cruiser. I don’t know how many boxes you could squeeze in the back, but the interior was totally stripped out and space made for spare tires and gasoline.

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It was in fact so stripped I’m sure you could almost squeeze this little EP82 Startlet in the back. Spare wheels and all! Sitting on some 14” Rays TE37’s it looked like an excellent little weekend racer.

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After running amok in the pits we decided we needed a little fresh air. As the sun came out we took a long walk over to the drift Course which was reserved especially for the various Toyota car clubs.

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It appears that Toyota Will Cypha drivers are very careful not to damage the environment. This “eco” Cypha was apparently good for around forty kilometers before needing another wind up.

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Just behind them was a row of JDM Toyota Crowns. Did you spot the Crown taxi on the right? Far more spacey and comfortable than the Prius taxis getting around.. but that’s just me. Don’t they look hot with a nice set of wheels and lowered stance? Definitely one of the cooler, classier ways to drag the family around.

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By the time we’d gotten over to the car park it was getting a little late, and some AE86 drivers were already leaving but not before we spotted a few beauties, including this black gem.

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On closer inspection, we find it’s a very rare ‘Black Limited’ edition, one that looked like it had just rolled off the factory floor. It just happened to be for sale too. The asking price? Offers of a measly lazy two million yen were the starting point.. (roughly twenty thousand US dollars!).

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Mmmmm, Black Limited.

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His buddy was also driving a spotless Levin with a stack of bolt on parts all neatly tucked away in the engine bay..

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The car was built by ‘Private Garage Tool Box’, and quickly looking in the engine bay we could spot an ARC air filter and intake pipe, Greddy/Grex remote oil filter, oil cooler and some shiny little pipes that led to a…

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…NOS bottle in the back?!

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Some custom BMW M3 grilles finish this fast and furious 86 off.

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Another winner was this spotless two tone Trueno sitting on MK-II SSRs. It looked pretty stock from the outside, but there was a half cage in there indicating that it wasn’t just a show pony.

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Fitment and some slight ‘hippari-tire’ action is where it’s at. Kiddies take note. This is how it’s done.

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In the area down below, I got talking to a very enthusiastic Corona owner. He was very keen to show off his customized seventh gen model.  Seeing many of these cars in beat up condition back home, I was surprised to see just how good they look when they’re taken care of and maintained.

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Not to mention retro fitted with Endless 4-pot brakes from a Vitz. The interior still had the new car smell, 24 years on!

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Another thing you’ll only see in Japan is the ‘vanners’ or ‘van-zoku’ Here are bunch of JDM Alphards all modified with different kinds of  lip and body kits. Big wheels to fill the big guards and speed bump scraping stance are a must too.

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In what appeared like a face off between the two groups, the bB boys lined up against them showing that it’s not all about size. Well.. sometimes. Check out the huge amount of custom work on the silver bB on the left. Custom lights, grill, front bumper and more! Whilst the wheels weren’t my flavor the fitment was err.. ‘hella flush’?

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This white bB wasn’t as heavily modified, just sporting a simple add on lower front lip and some ‘eyelids’.

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But just check out that fitment! If it’s one things the Japanese know how to get right, it’s offset.

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A few cars down, this bB looked like it was about to transform and join forces with Optimus Prime. Check out the widened front arches, Nissan Cima style driving lights and reverse opening hood. Oh and did I mention the scissor doors, front and rear!?

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Autobots… go!

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We spotted a group of little TE27 Corollas hiding among all these guys too. This guy had come from Shizuoka, the same prefecture as Fuji Speedway and Mt. Fuji. Old school four spokes equal tasty pie.

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And finally a quick view of the rest of the car park.

There was so much to shoot and see but I’ll wrap this up next post. Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen!

Images/Text: Peter Horniak