Matt Hockley's 89th minute winner made it six points from twogames for Torquay and it was no more than they deserved against out-gunned Lincoln.
Hockley bravely drove the ball home from close range after twice being involved in a seven-man, end to end move.
It was one-way traffic in a second half which saw Lincoln pick up five bookings as their increasingly desperate defence struggled to hold on in the face of mounting pressure.
City had looked dangerous on the break in the first half, Simon Yeo seeing a series of inviting crosses go begging and lanky defender Ben Futcher heading against the post.
But there was no mistaking Torquay's superiority, built on outstanding performances from skipper Craig Taylor in defence, Alex Russell in midfield and David Graham up front.
When fit-again striker Martin Gritton took over from makeshift target man David Woozley on the hour, Torquay moved up a gear even on their earlier efforts.
They had 14 attempts at goal after the interval and Lincoln's goal led a charmed life until Hockley finally wrapped up all three points at the finish.
Lincoln manager Keith Alexander blamed his gung-ho defenders for the defeat: "At 0-0 with ten minutes to go, we should have held on," he said.
"I can't understand why our three centre-halves all went up for a free-kick at the end, because we were caught on the break and it has cost us dearly." Torquay boss Leroy Rosenior said: "Our winner encapsulated the spirit in the side at the moment, we've had all sorts of injury problems, but the players just don't give up.
"The win was no more than we deserved, maybe last year that was the sort of game we would lose." Torquay now have maximum points from their first two games, while Lincoln, who pipped them for the play-off last season, are pointless so far.