How Japan’s First Sports Car Became A Sean Connery Classic A rare and perfect reflection of postwar optimism, Toyota’s first attempt is one for the history books
Or is it simply how it looks? To that end, the 2000GT speaks volume. Perhaps, as a result, the rare, beautiful, and groundbreaking Toyota gained an enviable reputation for becoming the first Japanese car to sell at auction for over one million dollars. Finally, speculators mused, Japanese vehicles were worth collecting. But the 2000GT had always been more than the sound of a falling hammer. By 1963, in the first-ever running of the Japanese Grand Prix, the manufacturer had triumphantly swept every class it entered. But the next year, Toyota saw its racing victories toppled by rival carmaker Prince and its Skyline. Its factory racing manager Jiro Kawano vowed to bring the brand back to racing glory the only way he knew how: with a high-end sports car, operating at the highest echelons of motorsport.
W
hat makes a car valuable? Is it where its origin lies, reflected in the faces of those who built it? The Toyota 2000GT Coupe arose from a nation whose “Made in Japan” label was, at the time, the punch line of a joke. Is it in a car’s technical achievements? The 2000GT’s inline-six engine, as well as independent suspension, disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, were then-exotic features we take for granted today. Is it within the stories it accumulates along the way? The 2000GT starred alongside Sean Connery’s James Bond while being campaigned by racing legend Carroll Shelby in the United States. Or is it the impact it has upon its introduction— the first evidence of an entire nation’s industrial might? Twenty years out from the ravages of World War II, Japan had developed the highspeed Shinkansen train, hosted the Summer Olympics, and blossomed into the secondlargest economy in the world—by these lofty achievements, Japan’s first supercar was the icing on the cake.
68
MARCH 2021
The 2000GT was a shot in the dark, a triumph of optimism So, he assembled a secret team of engineers who joined him for what would be known as Project 280A. Industrial designer Satoru Nozaki reportedly sought a Japanese interpretation of the Jaguar E-Type. The team also studied the Lotus Elan and the new Porsche 911 while drawing from their own experiences building the Sports 800—a diminutive little thing that was Toyota’s first sports car in 1962. And then they found an ally in Yamaha, makers of musical instruments and motorcycles, which had been developing a sports car with Nissan for some time—but the deal fell through. Stuck with the remnants of a half-finished prototype, Yamaha was all too happy to partner. Yamaha further developed an engine, adding dual overhead cams to a 2.0-liter inline-six derived from their Crown model. The result was a 150 horsepower show stopper. The prototype took
