Toyota Stalking, er...um, SPOTTING with Charlie™ (Cars, vans, SUVs, Lexus, Scion, and brochures)!

2014 Lexus IS250


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

2011 Scion TC


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

1995 Camry LE


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

1992 MR2


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

1993 MR2


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

2005 Scion XB 5-speed!


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

2019 Toyota 86 TRD Special Edition


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

I saw this at the AutoZone car meet on Sunday evening; I don't see a whole hell of a lot of 1st Gen RAV4s on a regular basis, so I took pictures of this 1999 RAV4 purely because it was a 1st Gen RAV4! Unlike the other two I saw, this one was not in near-mint condition; As you can see, it is lifted and rolling alloy wheels from a 2004ish Explorer, but it still doesn't see to be anything special. It has the fairly uncommon 5-speed manual transmission (the overwhelming majority of 1996-2000 RAV4s I've seen have the 4-speed automatic), but unless you look under the hood, it just appear to be another old RAV4...


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

I was just going to take my usual exterior pictures from various angles when the owner showed up with his friends in tow, obviously excited to show them something...

 

This RAV4 is fully functional and street legal, and the A/C is even intact and fully operational; However, the owner added a turbocharger from a JDM Toyota Caldina. Do not ask me how much horsepower this thing is making, because I have no idea and I doubt the owner did because he did it himself and didn't dyno-test it or anything; The owner didn't seem to think it would be able to get through an emissions test, though considering that they make aftermarket turbo kits for many engines that are legal even in California, I have no idea why this thing couldn't pass emissions just because the turbo is not from a US-market vehicle...

 

The 1st Gen 2-door RAV4s were never as common in the US as the 4-doors; I saw a decent amount 15-20 years ago, but I haven't seen one in person in years. The two photos below are of Australian-market models, which I snagged from Wikipedia...



A few years ago, I found a no-frills 2-door model on eBay, located in California; By no frills, I mean it had NOTHING. Power steering and power brakes were of course standard in the RAV4, and may have had ABS, but it was a front-wheel drive model, with a manual transmission, crank windows, and no A/C; It was located in SoCal, and it didn't have air-conditioning! However, it was mint. I don't remember the mileage, but it didn't have particularly high miles considering it was about 20 years old at the time; It was incredibly clean, had a clear title, and had just passed smog. Aside from an aftermarket Bluetooth HU with a CD player and iPod integration, it was totally stock; If I was looking for to buy a RAV4, and that one wasn't literally on the other side of the country, I probably would have test driven it just for the fun of driving a stick shift RAV4. However, no A/C is a dealbreaker.

 

I just realized that the hardtop model in the first picture is LHD, despite the fact that the description on Wikipedia says it's in Australia...

 

2022 Toyota GR 86 Premium


April 10th, 2022:

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

 

2003 Pontiac Vibe


April 11th, 2022:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

My standards are incredibly low when it comes to taking pictures of 1st Gen RAV4s, and they're a little higher with 2nd Gens, but I will still take pictures of 2001-2005 models as they are getting harder to find. As I have said many times before, I will not take pictures of any RAV4 that is MY2006 or newer unless it is customized or otherwise unique; You will find some newer RAV4s in this thread, but I have largely stopped photographing them. I spotted this 2nd in the grocery store parking lot on Tuesday; I will always think that the 1st Gen 1996-2000 models are cooler looking!


April 12th, 2022:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

This picture was taken in Australia back in 2010, and I found it on Wikipedia; As far as I know, production of the convertible RAV4 stopped after the first generation, but the 2-door was still available. Unfortunately, it was NOT available in the United States!



I am hoping that as more and more of these become legal to register in America under the 25-year loophole over the the course of the next decade, people will import them!

Yes, I would buy one, especially if it was a 5-speed stick...

 

2002 Toyota Celica GT-S


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

2010 Scion XB


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

2004 Lexus IS300


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

2021 Supra


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

2022 GR 86


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

2021 Supra


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

This car meet was initially in the parking lot of a Michael's Arts & Crafts, but the grumpy old man who managed the place didn't like us being there so he called the cops; The cops were a lot more professional than he was, and told us to go to Coventry Mall; So, the meet drove less than two miles to Coventry Mall and that's where it stayed for the rest of the night. The first four pictures of the white Supra with the blue wheels above were taken while we were still at Michael's, while the last three were taken as the guy was leaving Coventry Mall later that night.

 

1991 Toyota Celica GT with like 64K original miles! This car was also initially photographed at the original meet location, but the last four pictures were taken at Coventry Mall...


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

Cute girl with a JDM 1993 Toyota Supra; She told me that her daily driver is a 2008 Tacoma!


April 15th, 2022:

Pottstown, Pennsylvania