A Toyota 2000GT costs, on average, $1,006,064.
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The Toyota 2000GT is quite uncommon.
(CNN) – The most expensive Japanese car ever sold at an auction, a 1967 Toyota Shelby 2000GT for $2.5 million on Friday.
Carroll Shelby’s ability to transform it into a competitive race car accounts for a sizable portion of its value.
Are there any more 2000GT left?
Only 351 2000GT sports vehicles rolled out of Toyota dealerships worldwide between 1967 and 1970. Last weekend’s sad encounter with a tree has resulted in the loss of one more specimen of the extremely rare classic.
NHK claims that a 100-foot-tall beech tree crashed on the fabled Toyota while it was passing through the western Japanese city of Nanto, causing it to be completely destroyed. Fortunately, sources state that the 28-year-old driver of the automobile only suffered minor scrapes and bruises.
Even while antique vehicle enthusiasts may be heartbroken to witness the charred remains of the once-grand Toyota, the 2000GT’s insurers may have simply passed out. The car’s rarity and value have increased dramatically in recent years, with an example fetching $1.2 million at auction the previous year.
The 2000GT: Is it a Supra?
Nissan started working on the first high-performance sports automobile made in Japan in 1963. The A550X was the first prototype of a GT at Hamamatsu at Yamaha, with the front portion being modeled on the Corvette, as Joachim Kuch discovered when conducting research for his book “Cars that Made History – NISSAN – Datsun Z.” The 1965 Tokyo Motor Show was to be the debut event for the Nissan 2000GT. The inline four-cylinder engine from the Fairlady was being developed, but due to technical difficulties, the project stopped and was mutually agreed to be terminated in 1964.
Nissan creates Japanese GT concepts for Yamaha. Joachim Kuch’s book, Cars That Made History: Nissan.
Toyota has already begun work on their GT project. Following Nissan’s departure in December 1964, Toyota and Yamaha worked on the GT project together. Yamaha created a cylinder head with two overhead camshafts for Toyota. According to Yamaha Motor History, the official contract was signed on September 8, 1965, and a partnership that still exists today was established. Kuch claims that at the 1965 autumn show, Toyota displayed the Nissan vehicle with the Yamaha-developed 150 horsepower six-cylinder engine. Yamaha claims that Toyota introduced a prototype under the name Toyota 2000 GT. (likely a prototype 1)
The 2000 GT’s chassis is comparable to the Lotus Elan’s (Source Road & Track)
Yamaha quickly created a DOHC head based on the 1988 cc 6-cylinder (3M) block of the Toyopet (Toyota) Crown S4 after barely half a year, according to Road & Track. 150 horsepower at 6400 rpm is the standard output (Solex licensed Mikuini 3 x 32 PHH flat-stream carburettors). It produced 200 horsepower @ 7200 rpm while in racing mode (3x Weber 40 DCOE carburettors). In their book “A History of the First 50 Years,” Toyota oddly leaves out mentioning the partnership with Yamaha (no index entry)
Two Toyota 2000 GTs celebrated a double win at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka as early as 1966. On the Yatabe high-speed test track, the GT even broke 13 international records for speed and endurance a year later. (Tacoma 2000 GT brochure source)
There were only 109 facelift units still available. (Frame 10401 – 10509). Not every frame (or frame number) is used. The 2000GT with automatic transmission is the MF 10-C. Unfortunately, the information I do have may only be in Japanese.
Because Toyota’s production was not set up for manual small series, all Toyota 2000 GTs were built by Yamaha in Iwata. According to NEKO, there were precisely 337 MF10 vehicles equipped with the 3M machine between 1967 and 1970.
The Toyota 2000GT has a top speed of.
Even though the 2000GT is frequently referred to as “the first Japanese supercar,” it wasn’t the fastest car of its day. It took 10 seconds for it to reach 60 mph and no less than 24 ticks for it to surpass 100 mph. Maximum speed was predicted to be 128 mph.
The Toyota 2000GT was released when?
Toyota built the 2000GT from 1967 to 1970. During that period, the company sold 351 units globally, 62 of which made it to American shores. It’s strange that it wasn’t sold in more numbers, especially because a special edition convertible 2000GT model co-starred with Sean Connery in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
One of these cars cost slightly more than $7000 fifty years ago. Today, these vehicles fetch significantly higher prices; in 2013, a 2000GT went for $1.2 million, making it the most expensive Asian vehicle ever to be sold at auction. Recently, a white Japan-market example sold for $511,000 through RM Sotheby’s, demonstrating that these vehicles continue to be true collector pieces even though their sales may not reach previous highs. There aren’t any dollar signs next to the Solar Red automobile yet, so we can only guess how much it’s worth when it goes up for auction in May.
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What’s the market value of a 1967 Toyota 2000GT?
Official 2014 Monterey Auction Page & High Resolution Images from RM- Sotheby’s One of the most travelled non-racing vehicles in existence is this Toyota 2000GT (MF10-10128).
One of the two Toyota 2000GTs that were sold brand-new to Mozambique is chassis MF10-10128, despite the fact that the bulk of right-hand-drive 2000GTs remained in their native market of Japan. In the late 1970s, a sports car enthusiast from South Africa bought it and then exported it from Mozambique.
It was sold to Maine Line Exotics in Biddleford, Maine, a 2000GT expert, in 1986. Several of the GT2000s on this list have been owned by Maine Line Exotics for a considerable amount of time, including the original first car GT2000 (MF10-10001), which was given to Carroll Shelby and will be auctioned in Amelia Island at Gooding & Company. Maine Line Exotics has also owned more than 50 different specimens.
Javier Quiros, the Costa Rican Toyota distributor with the fourth-oldest Toyota distributorship in the world, bought the car in late 1986. Quiros brought the automobile to Costa Rica, where he drove it a lot and participated in classic car rallies.
High-quality restoration work started in September 2013, and the entire process is properly recorded and included in the collection of information that goes with the automobile.
Quiros, who had shared a dorm with Akio Toyota while they were both pursuing MBAs at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, had unmatched access to Toyota in order to restore his automobile to exact factory standards! He met the late Hiromu Naruse through Toyota, who served as the company’s head engineer and test driver and was instrumental in the development of the 2000GT as well as the Toyota 7, Celica, Supra, and Lexus LFA. Quiros was able to learn even the smallest details from Naruse in order to rebuild this 2000GT as accurately as possible.
At the RM Sotheby’s Monterey Sale on August 16, 2014, it was put up for auction and brought in $1,045,000.
Another noteworthy aspect of the history of MF10-10128 is that it went up for auction four more times before November 12, 2021, with each sale illustrating the ups and downs of a 2000GT market that overheats, pops, and then returns to its initially relatively healthy trajectory.
With a price guidance of $750,000 to $950,000, the vehicle went up for auction with Gooding & Company in Scottsdale in January 2016 following its $1.045 million sale in 2014. The high offer was only $620,000, and the vehicle was passed in.
Two years after bringing in $1,045,000 in Monterey, it was then sold in the official Pebble Beach auction with Gooding & Co. in Monterey for only $533,500.
Interestingly, it subsequently went up for auction on Bring A Trailer for the third time in 2016, selling there on December 19 for $565,000 (with the standard $5,000 buyer’s fee). It had 76,822 kilometers on the odometer when it was sold in December 2016 as opposed to 76,259 kilometers when it was sold for $1,045,000 in Monterey 29 months prior.
The Toyota 2000GT costs a lot; why is that?
This magnificent car is a rare item that wasn’t produced in large quantities. In actuality, only 351, of which 60 were intended for the American market, were produced. And even if the typical individual wanted to purchase a 2000GT, its price was excessive from the start.
The Japanese car was priced at $7,150 in the U.S. market at a time when the average yearly salary was $7,300. The majority of its competitors were substantially less expensive, thus the American people didn’t take to it and sales weren’t great. Surprisingly, this benefited Toyota because it is now nearly impossible to find a 2000GT at an auction. The car’s worth has increased naturally as a result of the imbalance between supply and demand, making it even more valuable.
Having said that, this unique car has other qualities that make it appealing besides its rarity. Another standout selling point is the fact that it broke 13 national and three world records.
Naturally, the fact that the 2000GT has been restored to its original red color and is stunning doesn’t hurt. The luxurious cabin’s wood accents, which were made from the same wood as Yamaha grand pianos, are a notable feature.
Last but not least, the 2000GT’s potent 2.0-liter double overhead-cam straight-six engine would enable it to hit 137 mph.
In how many Toyota 2000GTs does Australia possess?
The restoration of the 2000GT began recently at a workshop in Sydney, according to Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia.
Nine of the 351 Toyota 2000GT models produced between 1967 and 1970 were shipped to Australian consumers, making it one of the rarest cars ever produced by the Japanese automaker. And among the most priceless.
Depending on the state of the vehicle, auctions in more recent years have brought in around a million dollars. In 2013, a yellow 2000GT set records when it sold for US$1.2 million.
The 2000GT was a joint venture between Toyota and Yamaha and included a 2.0-liter six-cylinder engine from a Toyota Crown that Yamaha improved to produce 110kW and 175Nm.
The Nissan designer Albrecht von Goertz, who also came up with the BMW 507 and is largely recognized with developing the classic shape of the Nissan 240Z, was substantially involved in the styling, which was highly influenced by the Jaguar E-Type.
The 2000GT’s design has traces of the E-Type, although the Toyota was more expensive than the Jaguar. The car’s $9,200 price tag was ambitious compared to Ferrari vehicles from the same era.
Yamaha had previously intended to collaborate with Nissan on the 2000GT, which accounts for the design team’s participation. However, Yamaha withdrew, and Toyota eventually took up the project.
For the Sean Connery-starring James Bond movie You Only Live Twice, two convertible 2000GT models were built. The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles is currently home to one of the movie automobiles.
The local business restoring the Australian 2000GT is a part of the McCarroll’s Automotive Group, which has several dealerships spread out over seven different locations in the Sydney region.
Toyota declared in July 2020 that it would remanufacture gearbox and differential parts for the 2000GT and offer factory parts support.
How many convertible 2000GTs were produced?
The Petersen Automotive Museum will display a 1969 Nissan R382 and a 1978 Dome Zero at The Quail in addition to the 1967 Toyota 2000GT Roadster.
Only two of those were custom-built roadsters for the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
Because of his height, Sean Connery couldn’t have fit in the hardtop, and a T-top would have looked absurd.
Which Toyota is featured in the James Bond film?
Not an Aston Martin is the coolest vehicle in the newest James Bond movie.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a favorite among Australians. The James Bond movies are so great because of their gorgeous automobiles.
Who was the Toyota 2000GT’s designer?
Due to the involvement of three Japanese automakers and the hiring of an American freelance industrial designer, Albrecht Graf von Goertz, by one of them, Nissan, the actual development process that resulted in the Toyota 2000GT is shrouded in some myth and mystery.
Three automobiles’ design processes are thrown into the mix: the Toyota 2000GT, the Datsun S30, and the Nissan A550X concept car, which was based on the Datsun Fairlady 1600 ” (i.e. the Datsun 240Z and Datsun Fairlady Z432, the first of the “Z cars).
Nissan is looking for a replacement for their sports vehicles, the Datsun Fairlady 1500 and 1600, at the beginning of the narrative. The Japanese had come to the conclusion that a coupe would be a considerably superior vehicle, appealing to a larger spectrum of purchasers, and that the market for a traditional roadster form sports car was minimal. In order to develop a suitable vehicle, Nissan approached Yamaha and American independent industrial designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz.
During his time under contract with Nissan from 1963 to 1965, Goertz’s primary responsibility was overseeing the design of the Nissan A550X, a project that also featured two other Nissan designers, Kazuo Kimura and Fumio Yoshida. The exterior of the A550X was likely created by Kimura, with assistance from Yamaha’s Hitoshi Hanakawa, and Fumio Yoshida designing the inside while Goertz provided general design process advice.
The resulting prototype, particularly the front end design, has significant similarities to the second generation Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray that made its debut in 1963. Nissan opted against moving through with the A550X project, but Yamaha carried on with its research and development and created a working prototype in September 1964.
Yamaha discovered that despite having completed a lot of design work, nobody wanted to buy it. They asked Toyota to see if they would be interested in a project like this rather than wasting it. Unexpectedly, they were. This is unexpected considering that creating a sports car was never seen as a smart business risk.
There is little doubt that Nissan’s decision to move forward with the development of the “Z cars was only made possible by Yutaka Katayama, Director of Nissan USA, who would later be hailed as the “father of the Z cars,” and the popularity of the Datsun 510, whose design he had significantly influenced.
A further technology exchange agreement for the sports automobile was signed on September 8, 1965, after the joint development project to construct the Toyota 2000GT had started in December 1964. Jiro Kawano, Toyota’s racing manager, served as the project manager. Shoichi Saito oversaw the design team, which also included engineers Shinichi Yamazaki and Hidemasa Takagi, test driver Eizo Matsuda, and design assistant/development driver Shihomi Hosoya. The majority of the exterior design concept is credited to Toyota industrial designer Satoru Nozaki.
The design brief was concise and clear “Make every effort to make the Toyota 2000GT not only a reality, but one of, if not the world’s best automobile. Toyota was starting a mission to develop a vehicle that would, ideally, be at least as good as, if not better than, the Jaguar E-Type or a Porsche 911, and even more aesthetically pleasing than anything the Italians could produce.
The A550X design work with Nissan was substantially different from the design work done for the Toyota 2000GT. The Nissan A550X featured a unibody construction since it was intended to be a mass-produced vehicle with a moderate price tag; the Toyota 2000GT did not. It was built on a chassis that shared a lot of similarities with Colin Chapman’s Lotus Elan. The skeletal chassis created a “The engine is mounted in the front of the “X” and the differential is located in the “X’s rear fork.
As a result, the driver and passenger were incorporated into the vehicle’s sides “X, which produced a high central transmission tunnel and the sensation of being completely encircled by the inside of the car. Such a space will appear “snug with the dashboard in front resembling something that would look right at home in a Boeing 707 but done in Rosewood veneer by piano maker Yamaha for Facel Vega-like warmth and style, and this further added to the snug feeling because the roof height was kept low with the overall vehicle height being 45.7 (1.16m). It undoubtedly felt like being in a space capsule, and this impression was probably intentional. The Toyota 2000GT is not a car for someone much taller than 5’10 because of the low roof height.
With coil springs and wishbones of different lengths and front and rear telescopic dampers, the suspension was independent all around. Although it may have been, it wasn’t really intended to be a mass-produced vehicle; instead, it was created to be a world-beating supercar with a limited manufacturing run. There were power assisted disc brakes all around, with 10.5 at the back and 11 up front. The handbrake was installed on the dashboard, perhaps to ensure a leverage mechanism strong enough to grab the rear disc brakes effectively despite the vehicle’s cramped interior. Nothing less than rack and pinion steering was acceptable.
In Japanese culture, invisible things can sometimes be even more significant than things that can be seen. Toyota and Yamaha were adamant on completing all the technical and aesthetic features to the exacting standards only the Japanese can. This vehicle was intended to eliminate the “Forever and ever, the Toyopet Toymotor Heinz Baked Beans image.
All-aluminum external bodywork with intricate curves that would thrill the best Italian design firms was attached to the Lotus-inspired backbone chassis. The design of the car actually had more in common with a coachbuilt European sports car than anything else. Even though the Nissan A550X concept resembled a second-generation Corvette Sting Ray somewhat, the Toyota 2000GT had distinct Japanese styling and a more European flair.
This is also evident in Toyota’s compact sports car from 1965, the Sports 800, which has a distinct Zagato-like appearance but didn’t. The 2000GT was equipped with retracting headlights in order to comply with California headlamp height requirements, but the original enclosed lights that were set lower were retained in the design as driving lights, providing the car slightly better lighting than are found on other sports cars.
A limited slip differential was used to drive the all-synchronized, five-speed transmission, and three extra final drive ratios were optionally available. The 2000GT’s top speed of at least 133 mph made it roughly as fast as the majority of production Jaguar E-Types, particularly those sold to the US. (Note: The Jaguar E-Type that reached 150 mph was a specifically tuned vehicle using racing tires; it was not a typical production vehicle given to customers for use on public roads; at 150 mph, the engine was far into the red-line.)