The Toyota 2000GT was a car that made the automotive world sit up and take notice. Its design and the particular impeccable quality of its construction made it a stand out example of  what was to come in the future from  Toyota, a company  better known for  cheap  economy cars within the 1960s.

This was a Japanese halo car that would have a great impact on how people thought about cars from the Land of the Rising Sun, just as Japanese motorcycles in that will period transformed people’s expectations of production motorcycles and raised the particular bar significantly.

Fast Facts – The Toyota 2000GT

• The particular Toyota 2000GT was originally created, not by Toyota, but by Yamaha, plus its starting point was work done by Yamaha with Nissan. That work might later result in the creation of the acclaimed Datsun 240Z.
• The Toyota 2000GT was not really created with the particular idea that it would become a profitable regular manufacturing car: but rather that it would be a Halo Car to establish Toyota as a maker in order to be ranked with the likes associated with Jaguar and Porsche.
• To this end no effort was spared in creating the best sports GT that Japan could achieve, and the 2000GT was in every respect exactly that.
• In both its design and in its building the 2000GT achieved great attention to detail plus impeccable build quality.
• In total just 337 Toyota 2000GT were made by Yamaha between 1967 and 1970.

A Short History Of The particular Toyota 2000GT

Back in 2014 Classic & Sports Car magazine did the side-by-side comparison between a 1963 Jaguar E-Type, the C3 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, plus a Toyota 2000GT. On the team comparing the cars was a British motor journalist who concluded that among the three vehicles the Toyota 2000GT has been “the only car here that feels like a sports car. ”

When we consider Japan as a nation they have earned for themselves a reputation with regard to attention in order to detail, excellence in high quality control, and the ability to take the design plus refine this to the point where technology becomes art. They accomplished that will with the Japanese katana, and they set out to accomplish that in the particular creation of the Toyota 2000GT.

The cockpit of the 2000GT is pure-bred GRAND TOURING complete with wood veneer dashboard created by Yamaha craftsmen.

Many are unaware that the Toyota 2000GT did not start out as a Toyota project. You can read the more detailed history associated with the car in our article “ A Brief History from the Toyota 2000GT – Everything You Need To Know “.

The 2000GT actually began within the mind of designers at Nissan/Datsun who were intending to create a sports vehicle with which to compete along with the British and Europeans back in the early 1960’s. Back then Porsche were selling their Porsche 356 which was quite popular given the good performance and handling, all synchromesh gearbox, plus good fuel economy. From the Uk there had been a veritable plethora of traditional sports cars such as the particular MGA and MGB, Austin-Healey Sprite plus 3000, Jaguar XK 150, and of course the beautiful E-Type (XKE). Not to be left out the Americans had the particular Corvette.

Nissan worked on a GT style coupe with fixed roof that was called the A550X. It used the engine and gearbox from their Datsun Fairlady 1500 plus 1600 traditional roadster open sports cars but got some assistance from American freelance designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz. The particular A550X prototype had front styling quite reminiscent associated with the second generation Chevrolet Corvette and had pop-up headlights.

In order to create their prototype Nissan got motorcycle and musical instrument maker Yamaha to work with them on the project, but then Nissan’s leadership decided that it was not going to be the really viable commercial proposition and so they gave up and left Yamaha to go on alone if they chose to.

Yamaha continued plus by September 1964 they had created a working model. Yamaha do not want to go it alone with their sports vehicle prototype and so approached Toyota and they turned away to become interested in the particular idea of a Toyot a sports car, yet their vision was different to that associated with Nissan. Nissan were going to create a modestly priced enthusiasts sports car like the MGB plus Triumph TR4, whereas Toyota wanted to produce something that would certainly compete with the particular Porsche 911 and Jaguar E-Type. A car that will had excellent performance, impeccable handling, and styling in order to stand tall with the best that the Italian design houses could generate.

Toyota seem not to have been too worried if their new sports car would be a profitable business success: instead they were intent on creating a Halo vehicle, as Mazda also did with their own Cosmo . This sports activities car had been to do for Japan cars what Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki had carried out for Western motorcycles. The intent was to raise the public’s perception of Japanese vehicles to be above that of their particular American, British, and European competition.

The particular Toyota 2000GT has a design that is at once Western in design yet along with unique Japanese characteristics.

Whenever we look at the design associated with the Toyota 2000GT we can see that this style team took the time to study greatest practices used by their competitors. From the particular design that will emerged all of us can tell that no expense has been spared to create a car that was as close to perfect as it could end up being.

The Design plus Build

As with building a house – the foundation is the most important thing since it must support the building, and the case of a car it defines the character of the completed vehicle. Toyota chose to use a steel backbone chassis much as used on the number associated with Lotus cars such as the Elan, as the foundation of their sports car. Onto that steel chassis had been fitted a semi-monocoque body which may be of aluminium or steel depending on when the particular car was built.

For suspension the choice has been obvious: fully independent front side and rear by unequal length upper and lower wishbones with coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bars front plus rear. Brakes were in order to be servo assisted discs all around, 11 inch at the front and 10. 5 inch at the rear. Steering was rack and pinion.

Toyota wanted to use their 2. 0 litre inline six cylinder gasoline engine plus so this was extensively re-modeled to become a 1, 998 cc twin overhead camshaft sports car engine breathing though triple Mikuni-Solex 40PHH carburettors. The engine has been transformed from a SOHC to a DOHC for the 2000GT by use of a custom Yamaha designed alloy cylinder head.

This engine produced 148 hp at 6, 600 rpm and torque of 129 lb ft at 5, 000 rpm and it  sent power to the back wheels via a five speed all synchromesh gearbox and a limited slip differential.

The particular performance had been balanced with standing to 60 mph achieved in ten seconds, the standing quarter mile in 15. 9 seconds with a speed associated with 97 mph, and top speed of 133 mph – depending on the final drive ratio fitted in order to the car.

The 1, 998 cc DOHC engine started out as a SOHC standard Toyota engine which was re-designed along with a new Yamaha alloy cylinder head to turn it into the remarkably flexible sports vehicle power plant.

The particular bodywork design was primarily the work of Toyota industrial designer Satoru Nozaki. Nozaki created a body style with graceful flowing curved lines that Ferrari would be happy with, the roof even featured styling reminiscent of a Zagato “double bubble” for the particular driver and passenger’s head room.

Nozaki’s original concept had the headlights integrated into the front of the particular car in bumper hight, but US regulations required them to be higher so the 2000GT acquired pop-up headlights, and the original lights were retained as driving lights, making the 2000GT a proper sports car along with headlights that would blow the night darkness away rather more effectively than most of that era.

The interior of the 2000GT was made to become equal in order to or better than its contemporaries plus Yamaha’s musical instrument craftsmen plied their skills in creating the rosewood veneer dashboard providing the perfect frame for that engineer’s dash.

In producing the 2000GT Toyota and Yamaha succeeded in creating a sports car that was indeed the equal of prestigious performance cars being created in Britain and Europe. Their attention to detail and quality control were beyond reproach.

The 2000GT was fitted with centre-lock alloy wheels as regular.

The Toyota 2000GT for Sale

The Toyota 2000GT that is coming up for sale upon Wednesday 1st February 2023 is number MF10-10050 plus comes from the Degenève Collection. It is one of the particular desirable first series vehicles of which only 233 had been made.

This particular right hand drive vehicle left the Yamaha factory where the 2000GT cars were made on 26th July 1967 and was allocated to the particular Japan domestic market. It was finished within “Pegasus White”, a colour appropriately named after the flying horse of Greek Mythology.

The car has been subject to restoration in Japan before being imported into European countries in 2013. The car has made appearances at events including Epoqu’Auto in Lyon and Auto Rétro within Vetraz-Monthoux, and has been on display in a Toyota showroom.

You’ll find the sale page for this car here .

All photographs courtesy Kevin Van Campenhout through RM Sotheby’s

Jon Branch has written countless official automobile Buying Guides for eBay Motors over the particular years, he’s also created for Hagerty, he’s a long time contributor in order to Silodrome as well as the official SSAA Magazine, and he’s the founder plus senior editor of Revivaler.

Jon has done radio, television, magazine, and newspaper interviews on various issues, and it has traveled extensively, having lived in The uk, Australia, China, and Hong Kong. The fastest thing he is ever driven was the Bolwell Nagari, the slowest was a Caterpillar D9, plus the most challenging was obviously a 1950’s MAN semi-trailer with unexpected brake failure.