Car culture moves at a pretty fast pace these days. With trends and styles shifting in the blink of an eye, sometimes it’s important to sit back and reflect. That is exactly what the great people at Team Toyminator did.
As someone who’s been going to car events for most of my life, many organizers in the industry (big and small) overlook the most basic thing: how to host a good car show.
Team Toyminator this year is celebrating 25 years since its inception and to commemorate they made a return to their old stomping grounds in Plainfield here in New Jersey. The goal of the event was to celebrate not only Toyotas, but old school car culture as a whole with a themed show for builds 1999 and older.
This simple ruling made for a really varied turn out of actual builds. Don’t get me wrong, my love for new cars is great, but with so many catalogue bolt on builds on modern chassis, it’s nice to see custom and more traditional tuning on vehicles. With Some of the cars dating back to the early 1960s, owners have to either chase the rare parts or build it yourself.
The cherry on top for this event beyond the builds, the venue. Being held at duCret Center of Art, it made for a compact yet visually appealing vibe making use of the whole building.
This Ke70 Sprinter was looking ready for the streets sitting proper on a set of Te37v’s, easily one of my favorites from the show.
I’ve seen this a80 Supra a few times and it doesn’t get old, rocking a set of polished CCW D110’s and a custom Bayside Blue paint job borrowed from the R34 GTR. This thing goes as fast as it looks running a Powerhouse racing turbo kit.
Good to see more people do these classic boxy chassis with a bit of a Japanese flare and this GX70 Mark II Grande wagon is a prime example. A bit rough around the edges but looks amazing at every angle. Small wheels and a lot of low goes a long way.
Beautiful 4-Door Kp61 Toyota Starlet, we only got the 3-doors here in the US so it’s very cool to see these in person. Rocking a set of period correct Work Equip 01’s and a very cool side decal, this thing is very tastefully done up.
On the topic of cool things we didn’t get here, how about this bone stock ST215 Toyota Caldina? Very cool and some of the higher trims even came with 3S-GEs and 3S-GTEs similar to the Celica GT-Four.
Probably one of the coolest things to see was this JZS161 Toyota Aristo V300 Tom’s version.
Continuing with the Aristo trend, this JZS147 rocking a ton of Tom’s pieces. This thing has a very subtle appearance with a Big turbo under the hood and a Getrag transmission swap, making this a classic example of a Tokyo expressway weapon.
If you’ve been around the east coast tuner scene long enough you’ll realize the Toyota and Mazda crowd are one and the same. Knowing this, organizers decided to give the rotary crowd their own section which was awesome to see. Restomods, street, and drag examples were rampant.
One build in this section that caught me off guard however, was this beast.
A fox body Mustang repping a crazy 20B 3 rotor swap from a Mazda Cosmo. If this setup wasn’t crazy enough, it’s running what looks like at least a 90mm turbo that’ll easily push this thing in the 200mph range, insanity.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many first/second generation Rx7s in one place before.
Another one of my favorites was this E70 Corolla slammed on a set of R type Watanabe wheels. Such a timeless look.
My good buddy Ivan’s C73A Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg. This build means so much more than most people will ever know so I’m glad to see him enjoy this thing over the past year.
This show was extra important to me for a few reasons. Last year my father picked up this Tcr20 Toyota Estima (Previa here in the states). Currently slammed sitting on a set of Advan RzII’s. He actually has owned 2 of these in the past so this was a full circle moment. He also used to participate in Team Toyminator events in the past.
My buddy John and his new venture, Motorsport Brews, serving up some good drinks throughout the event. Next time you see them at an event make sure to grab something. That Matcha Lemonade goes crazy.
The Nissan presence was also out in full force with a some good examples including a V-spec II R34 GTR, A Datsun Sunny with a Hakotora conversion, and something you don’t see everyday…
A very clean 200sx. Very cool to see this chassis modified and bonus points for the Sr20ve under the hood.
Mini trucks were also out in full form with a few Pajero Minis and Juniors, Suzuki Samurais, and even a few Suzuki Sidekicks as well.
One of the coolest chassis that’s starting to gain traction stateside are the later generation Toyota Crowns. These things boast so much style and this particular JZS151 is a good example sitting pretty on a set of Lowenhart X Postions.
Some builds look like they sit in a time capsule untouched and Carlos Morales 15th anniversary A80 Supra is just that, winning not only best engine bay but best of show overall as well. Not a single part of this car is untouched. Theres a reason why it wins awards everywhere it goes…
The Hondas were also out and about as well with some cool Civic examples.
Chris Acosta’s very cool EK4 sedan. Sitting on a set of Group B NC-01 wheels, running a full roll-cage and some wild Aero. This thing sits really well and even sees frequent track time, respect.
Continuing on with the weird stuff, a Toyota Sera flexing its butterfly doors. And a Ep82 Toyota Starlet rocking a HKS oil splash inspired livery.
Two chassis you usually don’t get to see much of here, this H100 Toyota Hiace and AW11 Mr2 coincidentally running two very similar paint schemes showing how broad the spectrum of Toyota’s reach is.
Probably the biggest sleeper at the show, this Beams swapped third gen Corolla. If the swap alone wasn’t crazy enough, how about adding some forced induction via a turbo kit. Power to weight ratio on this has to be something horrifying.
Lastly, I wanna highlight some of the great Trueno and Levin examples that were present. Great to see the execution of these progressing in the right direction and being done more tasteful.
One of the founding members of Team Toyminator, Peter Diaz and his amazing Acura Red Ae86 Trueno, running jdm oem aero and a J-Blood rear garnish. It sits on a set of SSR MK-II’s and is powered by a blacktop 4age. This thing keeps getting better with each iteration.
Another staple from Team Toyminator is Denny’s Ae86 Trueno. He is also donning jdm oem aero and dropped on a set of Te37’s and also running a blacktop 4age. These are easily two of the best Ae86’s on the east coast.
Clean Levin owned by Carlos Indio Ramos. Running a wild beams 3S-GE and ITBs and a Radium fuel cell conversion, Work Meister CR-01 wheels, and some wild overs. Definitely a great look and one of the better Levins around with the power to back it up.
Danny Carrero’s really clean Zenki GTS Trueno. Hard to beat a set of Work Equip 40s on old school chassis.
Very clean Trueno all the way from Vermont
And probably my favorite 86 from the show was this red Trueno from OEM Performance out in Massachusetts, great execution sitting on what I think is the perfect wheel for this chassis, Watanabe R-Types.
If you got to this point thank you for reading all the way to the end! It’s been over 5 years since I even tried to do a post on the site let alone on an event and I’m sure it’s not perfect, but i figured I’d give it another go. Recently something gave me the itch to start shooting again so I wanna see if I can get back to the level I was years ago. I also wanna make it a habit to post on the site more frequently. Hopefully you guys tag along the ride with me on this return.
Big shoutout to Team Toyminator and all the sponsors for making this event happen. Definitely one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve been to in a very long time. There was so much more I wanted to shoot but I was honestly overwhelmed. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 16 years for the next one!
K20Kid 