Toyota Altezza Toms 280T

The Toyota Altezza was introduced by Toyota as a competition to BMW’s dominance in Europe. The SXE10 Altezza has the same chassis as the Lexus IS 200 except the Altezza RS has a Yamaha Tuned 3S-GE straight 4 engine, which produces 200bhp. The Altezza was engineered by the same team that is responsible for the famous AE86 corolla, the Altezza is rear wheel drive with a front mounted engine.

In 1999 Toms tuning shop released 100 Sxe10 Altezza for sale, they were called Toms 280T they were all sold within one day. These Altezza are quite special as Toms modified them to 280bhp and are extremely rare.

This was achieved by the addition of the following parts:

Toms 280T Engine Spec

• toms modified IHI turbocharger
• Larger injectors
• Stainless tubular exhaust manifold
• 1.6mm metal head gasket
• Stainless steel Toms exhaust
• Toms intake air filter
• Intercooler
• Toms Tec II ECU (Preprogrammed)
• Toms Twin plate Clutch
• Toms 6Kg Flywheel
• Toms Radiator Cap

Toms 280T Chassis

• Toms Advox Suspension
• Toms bracing
  • Optional
    • Front Brake Pads
    • Braided Brake Lines

Toms 280T bodywork

• Toms 280T Bodykit featuring
  • Front Lip
  • Rear Bumper
  • Side Skirts
  • Rear Spoiler
• Alloys (2 optional extras)
  • Toms Crono
  • Newsport II
• Interior Options
  • Toms Gearknob
  • Sparco Seats

The main features that distinguish the Toms 280T from a standard Altezza is the turbo, the unique Toms body kit and the placement of a Toms plaque on the right-hand side when opening the bonnet.

The Toms T280 Altezza Brochure can be seen below.

As these cars are quite rare it’s aways nice to see them come up for sale and maybe dream about owning one, some day. This week two T280 Altezza’s came up for sale in Japan. As these are extremely rare with only 100 made they are making big money in Japan over standard Altezzas.

Yellow SXE10 Tom’s 280T At Auction

The first car was a yellow SXE10 Rs200 Z edition Altezza with all the optional extras. The car has the unique optional extra Toms Crono Alloys and Sparco seats. It’s a grade 3 C car which basically means the car need a small bit of love from a new owner. The auction sheet says there’s a lacquer problem on the bonnet, the front splitter is damaged, the rear and front window has a crack and the roof has small damage.

The car has only 87k kms and it’s chassis number is SXE10-0001057. It sold for a $7,390, which is quite expensive compared to a similar spec and better grade turbo Altezza sell between for $3,000-4,000. I’d still love to have a Tom’s 280T sitting in my garage.

White SXE10 Tom’s 280T

The second Toms 280T Altezza is for sale at a dealer in Japan but it seems to be in better condition than the first car but it’s double the price of the yellow 280T Altezza, the car is listed at an unbelievable $14,346. The same garage has a Blitzed tuned  turbo 2002 Altezza for sale for $3,500 less than the 1999 Toms Altezza.

The Altezza is a white T280 Toms Altezza with 102,000kms on the clock. There doesn’t seem to be too much more specification available about the car on the dealers website. The cars for sale here .