Jones was "snapped up" by Toyota following the demise of the Beatrice F1 team, finding the lucrative offer to race in Japan attractive due to the lack of jet lag and favorable travel from Australia.
: The highlight of the season for Jones was a victory at the Fuji 1000 km in May. Alongside Lees and Masanori Sekiya, Jones won in torrential rain—a race he later recalled as "surviving the chaos" on a track that didn't drain properly. ALAN JONES 1987 TOYOTA 87C LAUNCH
At the end of the 1987 season, the 87C was phased out as Toyota developed the all-new V8-powered for the following year. Jones was "snapped up" by Toyota following the
The 87C was an evolution of previous Dome-built designs, featuring several technical advancements aimed at competing with dominant European marques like Porsche and Jaguar. At the end of the 1987 season, the
Despite the Fuji victory, Jones later reflected on the Toyota 87C in a July 2000 interview as the . He was critical of the car's ergonomics and technical quirks, such as windshield wipers that smeared the glass to the point of zero visibility.
: Built on a sheet-aluminium monocoque with a honeycomb core and carbon-fibre reinforcements. The bodywork was designed with large frontal air-intakes and ground-effect tunnels to improve performance.
: The 87C debuted at the Suzuka 500 km, where Alan Jones and Geoff Lees secured a third-place finish.