The story
Founded by Nobuhide Tachi in 1974.1
The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport, as the company was established in 1974 by Nobuhide Tachi and Kiyoshi Oiwa. Despite an oil crisis at the time, the two were able to show productive results and a healthy development of motorsports for Toyota. With the support of Toyota, TOM'S went into business in 1974.
In 1975 the Toyota Motor Corporation officially recognized TOM'S as an authorized tuning shop. In 1978, the firm opened a garage in the Tama area of Tokyo. TOM'S entered the Japanese Formula 3 as an engine tuner in 1981.
In 1987, TOM'S expanded to Hingham in Norfolk, England, setting up as TOM'S GB LIMITED. The factory initially housed the TOM'S engine shops and Glenn Waters's Formula 3 team before expanding to running the Sportscar World Championship and BTCC programs. in 1992 TOM'S attempted to lure Toyota into F1 by embarking on a Formula 1 feasibility study which included the establishment of a 40,000 sq. ft. R&D center. The design of the R&D center was overseen by John Barnard and a TOM'S F1 car was designed (dubbed the 011F) but never built [1]. After Toyota rejected the idea of a Formula 1 entry, TOM'S sold the Norfolk factory to Volkswagen in 1998 and left the European market.
In 1993, TOM'S produced vehicles for the Japanese Formula 3000. In 1994, the firm marked its 20th anniversary with "TOM'S Angel T01", a commemorative model. 1995 saw the lightweight sports car series T101, T082, and T020. In 2003, TOM'S modified vehicles entered the All Japan F3 Championship group of the All Japan GT Championship.
From Wikipedia’s article on TOM'S, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4