Let's say, your keyword is Toyota Cars. Just suppose that a lot of people linked with the anchor "Toyota" a lot, and also "cars" a lot too. But never linked with the anchor "Toyota Cars". I know it is unlikely but hypothetically, will it give the site a high rank when searched "Toyota Cars"? I'm just wondering so please don't ask me why I care.
it can do if done right but you have to ensure similar strength links to both parts of the phrase. a combination of all three would be best.
Links with "Toyota Cars" will contribute the most to your rankings for the keyword phrase "Toyota Cars". But as SEOibiza said, links with "Toyota" or "Cars" will also help you rank for keyword phrase "Toyota Cars"... however, they help to a much lesser degree. So they won't give you as high a ranking as if the same links had "Toyota Cars" as the link text. Generally speaking, links with link text exactly matching the keyword phrase you want to rank for will contribute the most, but you do want to vary your link text... "Toyota Cars", "Toyota", "Cars", "Toyota Cars Online", "2009 Toyota Cars", "Toyota Automobiles", "2009 Toyoto Sports Cars", etc. But MOSTLY you want "Toyota Cars" if that is what you are targeting to rank well for.