2000 Toyota MR2

Like any true gearhead, Corvete Tajo owned a 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse, and later upgraded to a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse, but by the new millennium, Tajo longed for a new car. He considered the Subaru 2.5 RS, the Volkswagon GTI VR6 and even the Acura RSX Type-S. His final choice: the sweet 2000 Toyota MR-2 Spyder you see here. Tajo likes the MR-2 for its nimble and awesome handling capabilities, plus, Tajo admits, he was lured by that cool, top-down sports car feel. But in 2000, Toyota only produced 1500 of the MR-2 Spyders, making his choice that much tougher to find.

Tajo finally located his ride at a dealership in Whittier, Calif., but he had to sacrifice color and options, as well as exceed his budget slightly, with an off-the-lot price of $24K. After searching so long, Tajo's mind wasn't on budget, but rather on what he could do to improve his new machine. He knew the handling design of the MR-2 was sound, but Tajo set out to make it even better. With the aid of Motor FX Autoworks, he got a TEIN damper kit and, with a little help from his friends, he had it installed, tuned and ready to run in one day. The car came from the dealer with a set of 15-in wheels, but with the new dampers it ended up sitting on its tailpipe. To address this problem, Tajo popped off the rims and put on a set of 17-in Volk Racing GT-P wheels with a pair of Sumitomo 215/45 tires in front and 225/45s on the rear. He still had some rubbing up front so to fix that, Tajo swapped out his brand-new front set of tires for a pair of 205/45s. After tackling the wheel and suspension package, Tajo wanted to make a change that would turn heads, so he bought a full four-piece TRD Stage-l body kit, adding an AEM cold air intake to improve performance. In the next few years this car saw a lot of changes, but it still wasn't the car he wanted.

By the fall of 2002, the car needed an extreme makeover. Friends were pushing Tajo to do something more, something a little different, something a little better. So he ordered a 13-piece DAMD street slider kit direct from Japan. Three months and $4,500 dollars later, he brought his car to Kool Kustoms in Torrance, Calif. Tajo knew this car demanded something special but he couldn't decide what color would do justice to his ride. Then Tajo met Vic, at Kool Kustoms, who loves to paint with candy and had formulated his very own tint of candy red. Imagine running a car so hard and hot around the track that the car would heat up until the whole body glowed-like embers from a fire. That's Vic's candy red. Tajo knew Vic created something special and gave him the go ahead to shoot it. After the paint was piled on and set, the car was ready for a new interior. Tajo slammed in a set of Sparco seats with Sparco brackets and sliders from Kreative Auto Interiors, in Rosemead, Calif. To complete the look, he installed a Sparco Mugello red suede steering wheel and a GReddy shift knob. The car was almost done, but Tajo hung at his brother's house where they installed a smokin' custom center dash console that houses the 4-in Sony LCD screen and the Sony mobile ES CD/MD head unit. With more cash put into the dash, they added a Sony Xplod component system in the OEM locations, wired the Sony TV tuner and added an Alpine in-car VCR.