1968 Toyota 2000 GT Coupe

During the mid-1960s, Toyota realized the need for a bold new sports car that could compete with the best sports car of its era, including the Jaguar E-Type and other vehicles from Porsche and Ferrari. The car was expected to be built to high levels of quality, have great performance, yet be civilized enough for daily use and eligible for export. It was also to be a suitable basis for a GT-class race car.

Toyota partnered with Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha for the engineering of a two-liter, dual overhead camshaft six-cylinder engine based upon Toyota's cylinder block from their Crown Sedan. The chassis was based on a Lotus-style design which allowed the car to sit low and conceal fully independent suspension.

The design was handled in-house by Toyota's stylist Satoru Nozaki. It was given a low-profile fastback coupe design with unique proportions and surfacing.

The prototype made its debut at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show followed by an appearance in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Production 2000GTs arrived in showrooms in May of 1967.

The height of these sporty coupes measured just 46-inches. They had a curvaceous body and brilliantly executed trim. They weighed less than 2,500 lbs and the 150 horsepower six-cylinder engine could propel the car to 60 mph in 10 seconds with top speed achieved at 137 mph. They had a nearly neutral front-to-rear weight balance and a low center of gravity. The fully-independent wishbone suspension and nimble rack-and-pinion steering made these cars very controllable at speed.

Toyota set an initial sales goal of 1,000 cars per year. Unfortunately, the high cost of production meant that just 351 examples were produced prior to production ending. Around 60 examples were sent to the United States as new cars.

This Toyota 2000 GT is one of two examples that were originally delivered to the Philippines. It is a factory left-hand-drive example and one of the lowest mileage examples known to exist, showing less than 9,000 km from new. The car is painted in 2309 W Pegasus White and Yamaha Piano-supplied Mahogany dash. The current owner acquired the car in June of 2000 and had it delivered directly to the Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville, California, where it was displayed for three years. After being displayed, the car was treated to a sympathetic restoration which lasted from 2003 and 2006. In all, over $70,000 were spent.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at Pebble Beach presented by Gooding & Company. The car was estimated to sell for $400,000 - $500,000. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $627,000, including buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2012