Growing up in Milwaukee, I was not a stranger to the name Jack Safro. In fact, my parents like many other Wisconsin residents within the last forty years have come to know Jack Safro as synonymous with Toyota. Jack Safro died of a heart attack earlier this year and a large portion of his personal estate was liquidated recently at the Mecum High Performance Auctions.

It was a sunny yet breezy Saturday morning in Long Beach, California and the only thing better than the weather were the cars that were dock side to the Queen Mary. Even more tantalizing was that over half of the vehicles were Japanese classics and nostalgic models.

Every day we hear in the news about how terrible the economy is doing and how the Big Three is on the brink of bankruptcy in Detroit. But things must be getting out of hand when even Toyota, the world’s most profitable automaker, announces that it suffered major profit loss.

A tribute video to Tsuchiya Keiichi, one of the few who has made the AE86 a legend. Complete with the funky Japanese-American Initial-D style music soundtrack.

A video showcasing various Japanese Classics cars from the 1980s. Including a Mitsubishi Starion, Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, Nissan Skyline RS-X, and Maxda Savanna RX7.

Over twenty-five years ago when Toyota initiated the launch of the Corolla GTS (now famously known by it’s chassis code, AE86) it was unbeknown to the world what impact this little coupe would have. The lightweight contender came onto America’s shores with as much fanfare as Bob Saget announcing a stand-up gig. Fortunately for us, the little Corolla GTS put on a much better performance.