Before the Nissan Skyline GT-R, there was the Toyota 2000GT, widely regarded to be the first truly collectable Japanese car, and one of the first true Japanese supercars.  Toyota, up until that point, was widely considered to be the producer of rather dull, basic automobiles.  When the 2000GT hit the streets, though, the notion of Japanese cars being “boring” was shattered.

The 2000GT represents two “firsts” for Japanese cars.  It was one of the first high performance Japanese cars, and also was one of the first collaborations between Toyota and Yamaha, who handled the production of the cars.  It was also the first Japanese car with four-wheel disc brakes.  The shape resembles, to some extent, the Studebaker Avanti—not surprising given that the designer was a student of Raymond Leowy, the man who penned the Avanti.

When the 2000GT broke ground in 1966, the automotive industry and its press were stunned.  The company most known for cars like the Corona, Crown and little Toyopet, had managed to create something suitable for the world sports car stage.  In the James Bond flick You Only Live Twice, the 2000GT hit the silver screen as a white convertible (custom built for the films).  The lines worked just as well without a roof (and to boot, it’s still my favorite Toyota body).

The 2000GT is, under the skin, a pretty decent car for its time.  It’s longitudinally-mounted inline six produced 150HP.  While that (and its top speed of around 130mph) aren’t that special today, they were enough back in the Sixties to generate a lot of buzz around car shows.  Each one was handmade, forcing production costs up, so only 337 were produced (there may be more), and only 60 of them ended up in the United States–so you can bet that seeing one pretty much anywhere is a big surprise.  In motorsport, Toyota managed to win a few endurance races, including a 24-hour race at Fuji in 1967.  Toyota may be known for making some pretty dull cars right now, but the 2000GT is an example of what Toyota is capable of when it wants to make something go fast.

-Al