Summary

• The Shelby Toyota 2000 GT bought for $2.535 million, changing into the costliest JDM automotive ever bought.
• The automotive was one in every of solely three racing examples constructed by Carroll Shelby, including to its worth.
• Appreciation for JDM vehicles just like the 2000 GT continues to develop, setting report costs available in the market.

The demand for particular and important traditional vehicles has continued to develop lately. Many vehicles from this period are primarily Italian exotics or American muscle with some particular British vehicles. But JDM cars have been receiving a lot of love lately ever for the reason that debut of the Fast and Furious franchise. Other reveals like Initial D and Wangan Midnight have additionally helped popularize the Japanese automotive tradition and made lovers respect JDM cars extra.

This appreciation has led to a excessive demand for these JDM vehicles and has made them fairly costly and collectible. Cars like the Lexus L-FA and Nissan R34 GT-R are commanding million-dollar costs relying on the spec and rarity. While Toyota would not play on this subject of uncommon and fascinating JDM specials, there’s one automotive that has defied the chances and claimed the title of the costliest JDM automotive ever bought.

In order to provide the most modern and correct data attainable, the info used to compile this text was sourced from varied producer web sites and different authoritative sources, together with CNN. Hagerty, Gooding and Company, and Classic.com.

The Toyota 2000GT Sold For $2.5 million

When speaking about the costliest JDM automotive ever bought, you’ll routinely assume it might be a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition with costs hovering across the $1.7 million mark. Another guess could be a particular Z-tune GT-R however it’s a Toyota. The first time a Toyota bought for loopy cash was in January 2019 when the newly revived Supra sold for $2.1 million at the Barrett Jackson. However, this was an outlier as this was the very first manufacturing Supra, however in early March 2022, the Toyota 2000 GT turned the costliest Japanese automotive ever bought.

The final price for the 1967 Toyota 2000GT was $2.53 million beating Toyota’s earlier report by greater than $400,000. This was the very first 2000 GT to cross the million-dollar mark and has now set the tempo for different vehicles to comply with. While this was a report worth, it bought decrease than the estimated worth which was between $2.75 and $3.5 million. After this sale, one other 2000 GT crossed the million-dollar mark on Bring A Trailer however that automotive solely bought for $1.15 million.

A Brief History Of The Toyota 2000 GT

The 2000GT was quite a special car and a halo project aimed toward altering the boring picture of Toyota within the 60’s. The aim was to have a top-of-the-line sports activities automotive that will draw individuals into the showroom and assist drive gross sales of different fashions. Many automotive manufacturers made use of this technique and it labored so Toyota needed to strive it out.

The 2000GT was built in conjunction with Yamaha as a entrance mid-engine sports activities automotive/ grand tourer. It was unveiled in 1965 on the Tokyo Motor Show with the primary manufacturing hitting the roads in 1967. Only 337 had been produced throughout its three-year manufacturing run which resulted in 1970. This makes it one of many rarest Japanese sports activities vehicles out there and they don’t come up on the market usually. It was such a leap ahead by way of technological developments and design that it was dubbed Japan’s first supercar.

The Shelby-Tuned 2000 GT

The report worth of this 2000GT might sound insane at first however there’s extra to this story. While there have been 337 vehicles made initially, this specific instance is one in every of simply three racing examples that exist and so they had been constructed by Carroll Shelby. The well-known Carroll Shelby who helped Ford win consecutively at Le Mans with Ford GT had his arms on a Toyota.

Shelby constructed three 2000 GT race vehicles and a pair were entered into the 1968 SCCA production car races. They each carried out properly however that was the one 12 months they participated. Toyota took again one of many Shelby race vehicles and restored it in the identical paint scheme as their record-setting automotive which set a high pace of 144 MPH.

Toyota 2000 GT Racing In Japan

The Shelby vehicles weren’t the one 2000 GTs that went racing. Before Shelby took them racing, they already participated in races at house. Before the manufacturing vehicles hit the street, Toyota entered the 2000 GT in a contest the place it positioned third on the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji. Its first win was on the inaugural Suzuka 1000 Kilometers in 1966. Other wins included the 24 Hours of Fuji and the Fuji 1000 Kilometers in 1967.

13 FIA world records were also set with a 2000 GT on the Yatabe High-Speed Test Track. This feat was achieved throughout a 72-hour endurance check which was subsequently overwhelmed by Porsche in a purpose-built 911 R. Unfortunately, the report automotive was destroyed in a tempo automotive accident and was scrapped. It has now been changed with the aforementioned Shelby race automotive.

The 2000 GT Is Considered One Of The Most Beautiful Cars of its Era

When speaking about probably the most lovely vehicles on this planet, the Jaguar E-type, Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari 250 SWB, and Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic are a few of the vehicles that at all times come up. Design inspiration for the 2000 GT was taken from the attractive vehicles of this period and many of the automotive’s design was initially executed by Yamaha’s Jiro Kono. But when it was time to construct the automotive, Toyota agreed to partner with Yamaha however the design could be modified to go well with their picture.

Toyota’s Satoru Nozaki was referred to as upon to design the 2000 GT and he took inspiration from GT vehicles from that period with inspiration from the attractive Jaguar E-type. There had been some design components taken from Toyota sports cars just like the Sports 800 which was Toyota’s first sports activities automotive. But wanting on the 2000GT, you possibly can see components from the E-type. It was low, lengthy, huge and seemed like rolling artwork on wheels. The automotive design was adequate that it ended up starring in a James Bond film.

James Bond Appearance

The 1967 James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice” featured a Toyota 2000 GT. The film passed off in Japan when the 2000GT had simply been launched for manufacturing and it made sense to have Japan’s first supercar featured within the film. Jay Leno checks out one of many two Convertible examples of the 2000 GT, that had been made particularly for the film. Although convertible variations had been by no means made for manufacturing, the automotive made numerous press for Toyota.

During filming, the 2000GT was seen racing via the streets of Tokyo which made many individuals surprise which automotive that was. When they came upon it was made by Toyota, visits to native dealerships elevated since individuals needed to see the automotive in individual. Recent Bond Actor Daniel Craig voted the 2000 GT as his favorite Bond Car of all time which is excessive reward contemplating the vehicles which have appeared in Bond films.

The Shelby 2000 GT Is Powered By An Inline-Six

Inline six engines had been fairly fashionable decisions for efficiency vehicles on this period, the Jaguar E-type, Mercedes 300 SL, Aston Martin DB4, and Maserati 3500 GT all made use of straight six engines. Regular Toyota vehicles used inline-fours however the 2000 GT needed to have a straight six engine with ample energy and Toyota already had an engine for the job. It made use of an analogous inline-six engine discovered within the Toyota Crown however with a number of adjustments for its utility.

Engine Specifications

(Source: Toyota)

There had been two out there engines for the 2000 GT, Both had been related in design to the unique crown engine however with slight variations. The first was the two.0-liter engine with twin overhead cams which made probably the most energy. The latter is the bigger 2.3 liter engine with a single overhead cam which made much less energy however extra Torque. The second engine was made primarily for the American market to match the torquey attributes of big V-8 engines. Most of them got here with a five-speed however some variants had the three-speed automated sending energy to the rear wheels.

The 2000GT additionally had some engineering firsts for Toyota and Japanese sports activities vehicles as a complete. These included:

• A limited-slip differential
• Four-wheel power-assisted disc brake, a primary for a Japanese automotive
• Coil springs
• Magnesium wheels

However, this would not be a Shelby automotive if it did not make extra energy than normal. It made use of the two.0-liter engine with three Weber twin-choke carburetors as an alternative of the Mikuni-Solex ones that got here initially with the automotive. It is estimated that the automotive made 210 horsepower which is 60 horsepower greater than inventory.

Other Expensive Japanese Cars Sold At Auction

In 1968, If you needed to purchase a Toyota 2000 GT within the US, you’ll spend $7,150 which was costlier than the Jaguar E-type and Porsche 911s at $5,539 and $6,790 every. In right this moment’s cash, the Toyota 2000 GT could be value $63,367 which isn’t even near latest values as they easily sell for 10 times more than that. This Shelby instance is a type of uncommon gems that promote for giant cash and relying on the situation of the opposite race automotive it would promote for related or much more cash.

This latest sale has set the tempo for vehicles just like the 2000 GT and can deliver extra eyes to this traditional Toyota. Just like different vehicles which have bought at report costs, it could trigger common 2000 GT fashions to begin creeping up in worth much more. Japanese/JDM vehicles have continued to understand lately and it will not be lengthy earlier than we see extra vehicles setting report costs.

Most Expensive JDM Cars Ever Sold

1. 1967 Toyota-Shelby 2000 GT: $2.5 million
2. 2020 Toyota GR Supra #1: $2.1 million
3. 2021 Lexus LC500 Convertible VIN #100001: $2 million
4. 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring: $1.87 million
5. 1989 Mazda 767B: $1.75 million
6. 2016 Acura NSX #1: $1.2 million
7. Nissan Fairlady 240Z ‘432’: $1.1 million
8. 2002 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R M-Spec Nür: $675,000
9. 1998 Subaru Impreza STi 22B: $604,517
10. 1994 Toyota Supra – ‘Fast & Furious’ Movie Car: $550,000