CarBrandLogos archive · Toyota · 1967

Toyota2000GT

Built with Yamaha in tiny numbers, and it ended the argument about Japanese sports cars.

The story

A defining chapter in Toyota history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Toyota 2000GT, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

In 1965 nobody outside Japan believed a Japanese manufacturer could build a serious grand tourer. The 2000GT was the rebuttal, and it was not really a Toyota alone. Yamaha, which had done the engineering groundwork on a similar project for Nissan before that collaboration collapsed, brought its expertise in precision manufacturing and its craftsmanship in wood and metal, and built the cars at Iwata. Jiro Kono ran the programme with Satoru Nozaki responsible for the shape.

Toyota 2000GT rear

Design and engineering

The specification was serious throughout. A 2.0-litre twin-cam straight-six developed from Toyota's M engine with a Yamaha cylinder head, mounted behind the front axle line for weight distribution, driving the rear wheels through a five-speed gearbox. Four-wheel disc brakes, independent suspension all round on double wishbones, a limited-slip differential and rack-and-pinion steering, all in a low, long-nosed fastback with pop-up lamps, a magnesium-alloy-wheeled stance and a rosewood dashboard made by Yamaha's instrument craftsmen.

TOYOTA 2000GT Bond vehicles

In production

Toyota then proved it. In 1966 a 2000GT ran for 72 hours at the Yatabe high-speed course and took a set of international speed and endurance records, which was harder to dismiss than any road test. The following year the car appeared in the Bond film You Only Live Twice, in a specially built open version created because Sean Connery could not fit under the roof, and that put it in front of an audience that had never heard of Toyota.

Toyota 2000gt dashboard

Legacy

Only 351 were made between 1967 and 1970. Each one was largely hand-assembled at Yamaha's plant, which is why the fit and finish drew comparisons with far more expensive European cars and why the numbers stayed so small. It was priced against exotica, and it lost money, which was never the point. The 2000GT established that Japanese engineering could produce something desirable rather than merely sensible, and it remains the most valuable Japanese car ever made.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1967–1970

Units built

351

Engine

Petrol engine

Designer

ill

Technical specification

The 2000GT, in detail.

Production: 1967–1970 (351 produced)
Class: Sports car/grand tourer
Body style: 2-door fastback coupé ; 2-door Roadster (automobile); roadster (movie car only)
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: Petrol engine; Gasoline: ; 2.0 L Toyota M engine#3M; 3M DOHC Straight-six engine; I6 (MF10) ; 2.3 L Toyota M engine#2M; 2M-B SOHC I6 (MF12)
Transmission: 5-speed Manual transmission; manual ; 3-speed Automatic transmission; automatic
Designer: ill; Jiro Kono; ja; 河野二郎 (Shusa, product manager) ; ill; Satoru Nozaki; ja; 野崎喩 (industrial designer)
Assembly: Japan: Iwata, Shizuoka (Yamaha Motors)
Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor Corporation (joint project)