The Official Publication of the Toyota Land Cruiser Association. Since 1976 and Still Going Strong.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

Rising Sun Land Cruiser Rally
A TLCA 30th Anniversary Event

by Jeff Zepp

“Let me have your bezel.” Annoyed, I stared at Mark Algazy and pondered his insistent request. “I need that for my resto, it’s not for sale,” I replied. He had asked me for it the night before and I had declined then as well. But he wasn’t giving up. He explained, “I just want to borrow it. I want to put it on the front of the U-Haul.” It slowly dawned on me that he just wanted the U-Haul to fit in with all the Land Cruisers at the Rally. I reluctantly gave in and fished through my toolbox for some bailing wire. Handing him the bailing wire, cutters and pliers I warned him, “You’d better take care of that bezel, I need it for my resto.”

With that, we were off to the big Rally. The sun had come up bright and the clear blue sky calmed fears of bad weather. Cruiserheads from all over Colorado and from out of state had arrived and anticipation was keen. Mark Algazy owns Mark’s Off Road in Burbank, California, and had flown in to Wisconsin, rented a U-Haul and was working his way back across country, filling the truck with used Cruiser parts along the way. The Rally would provide an opportunity to pick up some more parts for his stash. Others had traveled far to attend as well—Brian Swearingen of IH8Mud had flown in from Wisconsin, and Kevin Kuhn came all the way from Alberta, Canada.

The Rally, held at the expansive parking lot of the Jefferson County Stadium in Denver, Colorado, was a huge non-wheeling social event. A combination meet, greet and swap meet, Ige Gustavson and Mike Davidson hatched the idea one night over a few cold ones. They presented their idea to Rising Sun membership at the September 2005 meeting and a committee was formed. The Rally would be part of TLCA’s 30th anniversary celebrations and be sanctioned by TLCA. By early 2006, planning was well under way with a date and site selected. As the year went on, vendors were contacted, artwork was created, fliers were made, a budget was drawn up and TLCA sanctioning was secured. As soon as Cruise Moab was over, the Rising Sun website was reconfigured to allow online registration. The Rally was promoted in Toyota Trails and at all the online bulletin boards and email lists.

Among the more novel promotional tactics was the printing and hand distribution of hundreds and hundreds of fliers. Even in this day and age of internet communication, word of mouth and paper still count! Stacks of fliers were given to local Land Cruiser businesses and Toyota dealers to give to customers, and Rising Sun members handed out hundreds, even sticking them under the wipers of parked Land Cruisers wherever they were sighted. To coincide with the Swine-O-Rama, trail runs were set up for the day before the event—a hard core run, a moderate run and a beginner run.

The tactics worked. With over 200 registrants, the event was a huge success. Hundreds of Toyota 4x4s from FJ45s to FJ Cruisers and everything in between were on display. There were tube buggy dedicated trail rigs, scores of FJ40s, every flavor of Land Cruiser wagon from FJ45s, FJ55s, FJ60s, FJ62s, FZJ80s, to UZJ100s. There were pickups ranging from Hilux, Tundra and Tacoma to both long and short bed versions of FJ45s. Non-USA rigs included later year FJ45s, a BJ70 and a BJ75. There were so many rigs, it was very difficult to find a camera angle that could really convey a sense of how big the turnout was.

Like every TLCA event, the real story is the people. Everyone starts out with a common interest—they love their Toyota 4x4. But that’s really just an excuse to get together with some of the finest people you’d ever want to meet and hang out with. Like a trade show, people were wandering around all day, meeting new friends and socializing with old friends. Admiring rigs and looking over parts people brought to sell and trade, everyone had a great time.

The Toyota FJ Cruiser Trail Team had a tent set up where they gave away map holders, FJC magazines and LED headlamps—and took photos of people for the FJ Cruiser website. They brought many FJ Cruisers with them, from their built trail rigs to bone stock units right off dealer’s showrooms. Slee Off Road, Colorado Toyota Specialists, Off Road Solutions, Solid Rock Off Road, Off Road Ltd., Holben Arts and the Yota Yard were among the local shops that set up booths to show their wares. At the registration area, a TLCA membership and merchandise booth was set up, which helped to register 26 new members and renewals. Donors to the raffle included Slee Off Road, Rocky Mountain Land Cruisers, Advance Adapters, Colorado Toyota Specialists, Metal Tech, TLCA, Specialty Top Company, Solid Rock Off Road, Off Road Ltd., Blue Ribbon Coalition, Kevin Ehrlick, Light Racing, Holben Arts and Rising Sun.

It took a lot of planning and hard work to pull this off, and in particular Ige Gustavson and Mike Davidson worked tirelessly for months, and then hardly got a wink of sleep in the weeks leading up to the event. Kevin Ehrlick was everywhere, even decorating his gas grill with Cruiser emblems and bringing it to cook hot dogs for everyone. Matt Farr, Mary Macleod, Kevin O’Reilly, Ken Romer and his daughter Rachel, Steve Crase, Ken Davidson and many others volunteered for everything from setting up to working registration and merchandise sales.

Toward the end of the day, a fellow came up to me and told me he wanted to buy my bezel. Behind him, Mark was grinning from ear to ear. I said, “It’s not for sale, I need it for my resto.” But this guy really, really wanted my bezel. Mark whispered in my ear that he had several back in his shop and if I sold this guy my bezel, he’d sell me a better one from his stash. I repeated that I didn’t want to sell it—it was just for decorating Mark’s U-Haul. And then I really don’t know what happened. One minute I was being firm, the next thing I knew I was standing there with cash in my hand and no bezel. But the weather was beautiful, the turnout exceeded our wildest expectations and everyone went home happy.