Joji Luz was the kind of person who made everyone around him feel like they belonged. As one of the key figures behind Toysport, the legendary Toyota parts shop in El Segundo, California, and later as founder of ToyGarage, he spent decades building something that went far beyond selling parts. He built community.
I bought my first car just after I graduated from high school, a used ST162 1986 Toyota Celica. I didn’t know much about cars back then, but every OG on the Toyota Mods Email List told me the same thing when I asked where to find parts: “Go to Toysport on El Segundo. Make sure you ask for Joji. He’s cool.”
Founded in 1980, Toysport was established to distribute Toyota Racing Development parts in the USA, other aftermarket manufacturers, and even hard-to-find Toyota parts from the Philippines, like Nodalos headers, Solex locks, and Philippine-made windshield rubbers, specialty head gaskets for oversized pistons, and rebuild kits for rare engines that Toyota never imported to the USA.
Run by brothers Joel Luz and his brother Joji, Toysport quickly became the leading Toyota tuning specialist in Southern California. According to Paul Williamsen from Toyota corporate, they were even responsible for the beginnings of TRD USA, because they started Toyota Racing Development USA (TRD USA), to sell TRD Japan parts to Toyota owners long before Toyota Motor Sales USA thought about the performance parts business. If you were a Toyota person in Southern California (or visiting Socal), Toysport was like your Mecca. It was the place you went when you were serious.
Joji really was cool. He recognized people that were genuinely passionate about their old Toyotas like he was. He’d hook up repeat buyers with a discount on parts, the kind of thing that made you feel like you were part of something, not just a transaction. (Are you kidding me?! All the fresh-from-Pinas customers always try to speak to you in Tagalog in an effort to get the Filipino discount. We Filipinos love discounts as much as we love mangos and fried food. LOL)
Everyone knows his older brother Joel (RIP Joel also) was a little more strictly business, but Joji understood the culture in a way that went beyond just moving inventory. He understood that the cars were just the entry point. What people were really looking for was community.
When I first visited Toysport, I didn’t have much money, but I knew I had to buy something. I ended up buying a Cusco front strut tower bar for my Celica, and I was shocked that they actually had it in stock. Joji sold it to me. He pulled it out of the stash in the back (the plastic was a little dusty, to be honest), but I was so excited to have purchased something from Toysport, which was pretty much like the church of modified Toyotas.
Joji Luz, ToyGarage, and the Soul of Toyotafest
Joji wasn’t just the man behind a parts counter, but he was The Man. He was one of the people who shaped what Toyota enthusiast culture looked like in America.
When Joji left Toysport to run his own business, he founded ToyGarage (aka My Toy Garage) to reproduce rare discontinued parts and joined the Toyota Owners and Restorers Club, which started just as a small gathering of classic Toyota owners, but eventually turned into the group that organizes the giant annual Toyotafest.
Joji was tasked with bringing in modified cars to Toyotafest. “At first, I didn’t know if they’d be accepted,” he recalled, but the modified cars brought in a younger generation (people like me and my AE86 back in 2000) during the height of the Tuner Era. “Soon after we started to get sponsors,” he said, and the show snowballed from there.
He served as president of TORC even before Cabe Toyota‘s well respected Mike Bingham, and his fingerprints are all over what Toyotafest became: one of the longest-running Japanese car shows in the country, a multigenerational gathering that to this day feels more like a family reunion than a car show.
Joji captured the philosophy perfectly: “Competition is not the focus. It’s not about who pours the most money into their car. It’s how much soul does the car have? That’s why we give out ‘Recognition for Outstanding Workmanship’ awards rather than first, second, or third place trophies.”
That one quote tells you everything about who Joji was. He wasn’t interested in hierarchy. He was interested in heart.
He also spoke about what made the show most meaningful to him in his later years: “The show has been going on for so long now you see your friends’ children getting into it. The cars become an heirloom or the kids are building their own. Now you have multiple generations coming to the show together. That’s what is most rewarding about Toyotafest.”
The Fifth Toyota Celica Ever Sold in America
Joji was the man. But also, there’s the car. His yellow “Smily Bumper Celica” always made serious Toyota collectors stop and stare.
The first Toyota Celica for North America arrived for the 1971 model year as the ST trim, powered by a 1.9L 8RC engine. Toyota positioned the Celica as its answer to the popular American muscle cars of the time, marketing it directly against the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the Dodge Challenger. The Celica didn’t have a monstrous V8, but it had a muscular look, rear-wheel drive, and a fastback roofline that drew obvious inspiration from the Mustang. If you’ve ever parked a first-gen Celica next to a Mustang of the same era, the family resemblance is hard to ignore. It was Japan’s pony car. Lightweight, honest, and charming in a way that most American muscle of that era simply wasn’t.
In his Redondo Beach, California home, Joji proudly kept and protected the fifth US-market Celica ever built, as well as the thirteenth, plus even more Toyotas. His yellow Smily Celica (Old school Toyota enthusiasts call these Smily bumper Celicas because the shape of the bumpers make the car look like its smiling) bears the VIN code RA20-000005, meaning it was the fifth RA20 Celica ever made for the US market, with the vin stamped in the firewall at the Toyota factory in Aichi, Japan.
He grew up in the Philippines, where American muscle cars didn’t exist, but imported sport coupes like the Toyota Celica were coveted objects because they were made famous in rallying by the esteemed Silverio family, the official importers of Toyota to the Philippines. Joji described the vintage Celica as a car you could genuinely enjoy driving while still being practical enough for everyday use. “An old Toyota can be stored for three years and then be driven again with no problems,” he said.
The fifth Celica ever sold in America. That’s not a number you hear often in any collector car conversation, and Joji owned it. This wasn’t a garage queen sitting behind a velvet rope. It was a car that Joji had a deeply personal connection to, one that traced all the way back to his childhood in the Philippines and the first time he ever understood what a Toyota could be.
He removed the sluggish 8RC engine and had a high revving Japanese-market twincam 2TG engine into it, to match the spec of the Celicas that factory Toyota race teams TRD/Tosco (Toyota Sports Corner) and Tom’s Racing (Tachi Oiwa Motorsports) used to race in Japan
Drive the Cars. Make the Memories.
Joji’s passing makes me think about something I believe every car person needs to hear (especially myself), even if it’s uncomfortable.
Some people spend so much time protecting their cars, worrying about their rare uncracked vintage dashboards and mileage, keeping them off the road when it rains, covering them up so the sun doesn’t fade the paint. (I’m definitely talking about myself here.) There’s nothing wrong with preservation, especially with a car as rare as a 1970s Toyota – especially the fifth Celica ever sold in this country.
Here’s the thing, though. Joji seemed to understand something that a lot of collectors forget. He called the vintage Celica a nice car that you can enjoy driving, yet practical. He cherished and protected his Number 5 Celica and his Sports 800, but he actually drove them too. He didn’t use them for getting groceries, but he did drive them to shows. He let people see them, touch them, and connect with them. The cars were the bridge between people, not the destination.
You can’t take it with you when you go. You just can’t.
What your family and friends will remember isn’t the condition of the paint or how few miles were on the odometer. They’ll remember the morning you loaded everyone up and drove somewhere just because you could. They’ll remember the sound of the engine at a car show, the amazing smell of old Toyota vinyl interior mixed with the fuel smell from the twin side-draft Mikuni carbs. Kids will build core memories when cruising with their parents in their cool old car. (Parents, please make sure you own a cool old car in the first place.)
Those memories don’t depreciate. They compound.
The last time I saw Joji was at a night time Toyota offroad truck meet in Orange County. I had already moved to Vegas by then, so Joji was surprised when he saw me… but he still greeted me with his signature smile, and I remember him excitedly telling me, “dude. I know you have some Toyota offroad vehicles now. You gotta sit in my Land Cruiser and hear the sound system that Sandy (our mutual friend Sandy Lirag, from OEM Audio Plus) put in my 80 series.” Then he unlocked the door, gave me the key, and said, “go ahead. Blast it!”
Joji spent decades building community around these cars, not just selling parts, not just attending shows, but genuinely investing in the people who loved Toyotas as much as he did. He understood that the car is just the object. The memory is what lasts.
Rest easy, Joji. The community you helped build is going to carry this forward. Somewhere at the next Toyotafest, somebody is going to walk past a first-gen Celica and feel exactly what you wanted them to feel.
That’s the legacy.
To Joji’s family: thank you for sharing him with us for all these years. Our deepest condolences. May eternal light shine upon him like the headlights behind his clear racing jacket headlight covers.
Rest in peace, friend. Thank you for 25+ years of friendship and inspiration.
:: Antonio Alvendia
Instagram: @AntonioSureshot • @MOTORMAVENS
www.antoniosureshot.com
One of the things that gets lost when we grieve on social media is that the memories eventually disappear. Instagram and Facebook posts get buried. Timelines move on.
We want this page to be a permanent record of who Joji was to this community. If you have a memory of Joji, a story from Toysport or Toyotafest or JCCS, or just something you wish you had told him, please leave it in the comments below.
His family and friends will be able to find it here. So will anyone who searches his name years from now.
Relevant Links about Joji and his Celica:
- https://motormavens.com/tag/joji-luz/
- https://www.motortrend.com/features/130-0209-1971-toyota-celica-gt
- https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/in-its-26th-year-toyotafest-is-still-going-strong-a-brief-history-of-torc-the-toyota-owners-and-restorers-club/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/automobiles/collectibles/25TOYOTA.html
- https://www.autoguide.com/auto/manufacturers/toyota/the-story-behind-trds-american-legacy-44618194
- https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/g2150526/japanese-classic-car-show-2019/
- https://www.landcruiser-forum.com/threads/the-story-behind-trds-american-legacy.387/
- https://www.hemmings.com/stories/yodahachi-1965-toyota-sports-800/
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I think over 25 years ago, I had made internet friends with people all over the world through a Toyota Email Mailing list, made forum friends and web ring pals and that included people like Antonio Alvendia.
I found the community small and of course when it was time to get my first bolt-on mod that was “JDM” I settled on wanting an HKS twin-tip sport exhaust. Antonio told me to call on Joji to get some expert advice and try to speak Tagalog to get the hook up. Hahah.
To a person who grew up in the Philippines, sometimes my Tagalog sounds the way a French person sounds talking English. He found it funny, and said no problem bro, and suggested I get the HKS Hiper for my boosted AE86.
Thanks to enthusiasts like him, back then the friends made through connections made it feel like you mattered and you belonged. Thanks to these early influences I get to spread the message of what the heart of Filipino truth is. It is called Kapwa. Kapwa is something I’m only beginning to recognize as a continual force that unites. This is the legacy that people like Antonio mentioned above. I never got to know Joji personally but I was blessed to have been gifted that presence in my young life that I give out freely to those who are worthy of the perpetual props, respect and honour.
Rest easy, from a fellow Toyota enthusiast from Canada. Thank you. Deepest condolences to the friends and family.
Your words kindly reminds me who was Joji.
I cant say that my connection with Toyota came a lot from Toysport.
Joji , was the a special guy , me a Comercial Airline pilot that flew to LA , just to go to Toysport and his world , was amazing .
Meeting Joji , building a friendship through the years , that went beyond the bussines area to the personal area , was amazing.
I am a road race guy, but he took me ( literally ) pick me up at the hotel and went to one of the first Moto drift event at Irvine, just WOW.
Good friend we will miss you , but we eill try to carry that Toyota Torch that you and Joel brought the Toyota Kingdome.
Thank you for all.
I wanted to post here that the above article echos my feelings as well. Antonio wrote a wonderful tribute. Even though it’s been 25 years since I was buying a ton of parts for my Corollas, I remember calling Toysport and having Joji always answer my questions and provide me with the correct parts I needed. I think he sold me my Turbonetics turbo and Cusco bar, and probably many other parts as well. I regret not having met him in person. My deepest condolences to his family.
Joji helped me out from a young teen and was always a good friend. He will be missed.
Awesome memory, Juan! Thank you for commenting! What airline do you fly for?
I once met another commercial airline pilot (Bill Sherwood from Australia) when he was on a flight layover in LA. He is a big AE86 guy!
Joji absolutely loved my Celica! I would see him at events, and he was always a smiling face, and always asking me “when will the 18rg be done!?”
I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend Joji Luz. I have know the Luz brothers since the 70’s in Manila, Philippines.
. Joji was always a gentleman and great t do business with as well as just visit from time to time, hang out for an hour and catch up.
I have owned quite a few 71-74 Celica’ coupes over the years and Joel and Joji were always there and helpful in acquiring that hard to find part.
The Toysport shop in El Segundo was always a treat to visit. There was always some cool project car being build or prepped. Later Joji opened his Toygarage business. At times I would text and ask for a certain weatherstrip or RESTORED hood or trunk lid. At times a replacement front spoiler which always fit perfectly. Joji would always make the part available for pick up at his home at all hours due to my crazy work schedule. Always greeted with a smile and a send off of INGAT Tagalog for be careful and take care. You always felt like family with Joji.
He stepped up at a time in my life when I was in a bind and purchased the #13 Celica from me. I did not want to sell the car but I knew it was going to the right person.
Joji was a great guy and extremely charismatic!
Rest well my friend!
Anthony Vergara
AKA (Zipppo)