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Toyota 2000GT
The Toyota 2000GT is a limited-production front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door, two-seat sports car/grand tourer designed by Toyota in collaboration with Yamaha. First displayed to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1965, the 2000GT was manufactured under contract by Yamaha between 1967 and 1970. A halo car for the automaker, in Japan it was exclusive to Toyota's Japanese retail sales channel called Toyota Store.
The 2000GT revolutionized the automotive world's view of Japan, then viewed as a producer of imitative and stodgily practical vehicles. As a sleek, high-performance fastback coupé, it demonstrated its auto makers could produce a sports car to rival the better marques of Europe. Reviewing a pre-production 2000GT in 1967, Road & Track magazine summed up the car as "one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven", and compared it favorably to the Porsche 911. Today, the 2000GT is seen as the first seriously collectible Japanese car and by some as its first supercar, while others claim the later Honda NSX holds that title. Examples of the 2000GT have sold at auction for as much as US$1,200,000 in 2013.
Automobile ownership in Japan during the late 1950s and early 1960s began to pick up, and Toyota noticed that most international manufacturers had a top level sports car or grand touring coupe, that would draw customers into showrooms and dealerships and drive sales of other more affordable models. Ford had recently introduced the Thunderbird, Chrysler had the C-300 while GM's Chevrolet Division had the Corvette. In Europe, Mercedes-Benz had the 300SL, BMW briefly offered the 507, Porsche had the 356, Jaguar had the E-Type, Aston Martin had the DB4, Ferrari had the 250 GT Coupé, and Maserati had the 3500 GT. In Japan, Nissan offered the Datsun Sports, while Honda introduced the S500 and Prince offered the Skyline Sport Coupé. Toyota had already began production of the Sports 800, but the engine was far too small to be considered a world class sports car, and decided they needed to offer a proper 6-cylinder coupe.
Most of the 2000GT's design was done by Yamaha Motor Corporation, who also contributed contract assistance for other Japanese manufacturers, including Nissan. In 1959, Yamaha established the Technical Research Institute to develop their own sports car, and had built the YX30 sports car with a 4-cylinder engine displacing 1600cc, having drawn inspiration from the British MGA B-Series 1600 DOHC engine. Due to various problems, Yamaha senior management decided to close the research facility in 1962, but enthusiasm of developing a sports car led to them partnering with an established auto manufacturer. A prototype called the "A550X" was built, but Nissan cancelled the project and introduced the slow selling Nissan Silvia coupe in 1965. Yamaha then proposed the design to Toyota, for whom they also did contract work, then perceived as the most conservative of the Japanese car manufacturers. Wishing to improve their image, Toyota accepted the proposal, but employed a design from their own designer Satoru Nozaki.
The 2000GT incorporated many classic 1960s Gran Turismo design elements. Nozaki's styling was inspired by the E-type Jaguar. Its smoothly flowing bodywork featured pop-up headlights above large plexiglass covered driving lamps flanking the grille similar to those on the Toyota Sports 800. Bumpers were minimal, and the car was extremely low, just 116 cm (45.7 in) to the highest point of the roof. Despite a custom open-top version built for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, a factory-produced convertible was never offered.
The interior offered comfortable, if cramped, accommodation and luxury touches such as a walnut or rosewood veneer dashboard inlays provided by Yamaha's musical instrument woodworking facilities, and an auto-signal seeking radio tuner. Road & Track was impressed, considering the interior suited to a "luxurious GT" and calling the 2000GT an impressive car "in which to sit or ride - or simply admire." An electric clock and a stopwatch were installed in the dashboard below the radio and above the climate controls.
In August 1969, the front was modified slightly, making the driving lamps smaller and changing the shape of the turn signals. The rear turn signals were enlarged at the same time, and some alterations were made to modernise the interior. The last few vehicles were fitted with air conditioning and had automatic transmission as an option. These cars had an additional scoop fitted underneath the grille to supply air to the A/C unit.
The engine was a longitudinally mounted 1,988 cc (2.0 L; 121.3 cu in) straight-6 (the 3M) sourced from the Toyota Crown (S50) sedan. It was transformed by Yamaha into a sports car engine by coupling three 2-barrel Mikuni-Solex 40 PHH carburetors to a new DOHC head that produced 150 PS (148 bhp; 110 kW) at 6,600 rpm and 175 N⋅m (129 lb⋅ft) at 5,000 rpm.
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Toyota 2000GT
The Toyota 2000GT is a limited-production front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door, two-seat sports car/grand tourer designed by Toyota in collaboration with Yamaha. First displayed to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1965, the 2000GT was manufactured under contract by Yamaha between 1967 and 1970. A halo car for the automaker, in Japan it was exclusive to Toyota's Japanese retail sales channel called Toyota Store.
The 2000GT revolutionized the automotive world's view of Japan, then viewed as a producer of imitative and stodgily practical vehicles. As a sleek, high-performance fastback coupé, it demonstrated its auto makers could produce a sports car to rival the better marques of Europe. Reviewing a pre-production 2000GT in 1967, Road & Track magazine summed up the car as "one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven", and compared it favorably to the Porsche 911. Today, the 2000GT is seen as the first seriously collectible Japanese car and by some as its first supercar, while others claim the later Honda NSX holds that title. Examples of the 2000GT have sold at auction for as much as US$1,200,000 in 2013.
Automobile ownership in Japan during the late 1950s and early 1960s began to pick up, and Toyota noticed that most international manufacturers had a top level sports car or grand touring coupe, that would draw customers into showrooms and dealerships and drive sales of other more affordable models. Ford had recently introduced the Thunderbird, Chrysler had the C-300 while GM's Chevrolet Division had the Corvette. In Europe, Mercedes-Benz had the 300SL, BMW briefly offered the 507, Porsche had the 356, Jaguar had the E-Type, Aston Martin had the DB4, Ferrari had the 250 GT Coupé, and Maserati had the 3500 GT. In Japan, Nissan offered the Datsun Sports, while Honda introduced the S500 and Prince offered the Skyline Sport Coupé. Toyota had already began production of the Sports 800, but the engine was far too small to be considered a world class sports car, and decided they needed to offer a proper 6-cylinder coupe.
Most of the 2000GT's design was done by Yamaha Motor Corporation, who also contributed contract assistance for other Japanese manufacturers, including Nissan. In 1959, Yamaha established the Technical Research Institute to develop their own sports car, and had built the YX30 sports car with a 4-cylinder engine displacing 1600cc, having drawn inspiration from the British MGA B-Series 1600 DOHC engine. Due to various problems, Yamaha senior management decided to close the research facility in 1962, but enthusiasm of developing a sports car led to them partnering with an established auto manufacturer. A prototype called the "A550X" was built, but Nissan cancelled the project and introduced the slow selling Nissan Silvia coupe in 1965. Yamaha then proposed the design to Toyota, for whom they also did contract work, then perceived as the most conservative of the Japanese car manufacturers. Wishing to improve their image, Toyota accepted the proposal, but employed a design from their own designer Satoru Nozaki.
The 2000GT incorporated many classic 1960s Gran Turismo design elements. Nozaki's styling was inspired by the E-type Jaguar. Its smoothly flowing bodywork featured pop-up headlights above large plexiglass covered driving lamps flanking the grille similar to those on the Toyota Sports 800. Bumpers were minimal, and the car was extremely low, just 116 cm (45.7 in) to the highest point of the roof. Despite a custom open-top version built for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, a factory-produced convertible was never offered.
The interior offered comfortable, if cramped, accommodation and luxury touches such as a walnut or rosewood veneer dashboard inlays provided by Yamaha's musical instrument woodworking facilities, and an auto-signal seeking radio tuner. Road & Track was impressed, considering the interior suited to a "luxurious GT" and calling the 2000GT an impressive car "in which to sit or ride - or simply admire." An electric clock and a stopwatch were installed in the dashboard below the radio and above the climate controls.
In August 1969, the front was modified slightly, making the driving lamps smaller and changing the shape of the turn signals. The rear turn signals were enlarged at the same time, and some alterations were made to modernise the interior. The last few vehicles were fitted with air conditioning and had automatic transmission as an option. These cars had an additional scoop fitted underneath the grille to supply air to the A/C unit.
The engine was a longitudinally mounted 1,988 cc (2.0 L; 121.3 cu in) straight-6 (the 3M) sourced from the Toyota Crown (S50) sedan. It was transformed by Yamaha into a sports car engine by coupling three 2-barrel Mikuni-Solex 40 PHH carburetors to a new DOHC head that produced 150 PS (148 bhp; 110 kW) at 6,600 rpm and 175 N⋅m (129 lb⋅ft) at 5,000 rpm.