Toyota 2000GT  (1967-1970)


The Toyota 2000GT was a sports car produced in very limited numbers by Toyota in Japan. First seen at the Tokyo Motor Show of 1965, production vehicles were built between 1967 and 1970. It revolutionised the automotive world's view of Japan, formerly seen as a producer of imitative and stodgily practical vehicles, and showed that the Japanese makers could produce a sports car to rival those of Europe.

Reviewing a pre-production car in 1967, Road & Track magazine summed up the 2000 GT (sic) as "one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we've driven", and compared it favorably to the Porsche 911. Today, the car is seen as the first seriously collectible Japanese car, the first "Japanese Supercar", and examples change hands for fairly high prices.

Much of the work was done by Yamaha, who in addition to their wide product range of the time also did much work for other Japanese manufacturers.A prototype was built, but Nissan decided eventually not to pursue the project. Yamaha also worked for Toyota, then perceived as the most conservative of the Japanese auto makers. Wishing to improve their image, Toyota accepted the proposal instead.
The smoothly flowing bodywork was executed in aluminum, and featured pop-up headlights as well as large driving lamps in fixed locations either side of the grille, with plexiglas covers over them. The design scarcely featured bumpers at all, and the plexiglas driving lamp covers in particular are rather easily damaged. The car was extremely low, just 45.7 in (116 cm) at the roof. Infact, for the Bond movie You Only Live Twice, the car was deliberatley made into a convertible as Sean Connery was too large to sit behind the wheel.[citation needed] In 1969, the front of the car 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 inside 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 2.0 L (121 in³) straight-6 (the 3M) based on the engine the top-of-the-line Toyota Crown sedan. It was transformed by Yamaha with new double overhead camshaft heads into a 112 kW (150 hp) sports car engine. Carburation was through three two-barrel Solex 40 PHH units. Nine special MF-12 models were also built with the larger 2.3 L 2M engine. The car was available with three different final drives; optioned with the 4.375 ratio version, the car was said to be capable of reaching 135 mph (217 km/h).

The engine was mounted longitudinally and drove the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. A limited slip differential was fitted, and in a first for a Japanese car, all-round power-assisted disc brakes. The atypical emergency brake gripped the rear disc directly.

The interior offered comfortable, if cramped, accommodation and luxury touches like a rosewood-veneer dashboard and an auto-seeking radio tuner. At the time, Road & Track felt that the interior was up to par for a "Luxurious GT", calling it an impressive car "in which to sit or ride - or simply admire."

An absolutely minuscule 351 (regular production cars) of the 2000GT were built, figures as low as specialist Italian supercar construction. According to Toyota and Yamaha data, there were 233 MF10s, 109 MF10Ls, and nine MF12Ls. All were actually built by Yamaha; it took two years for production vehicles to emerge. In America, the 2000GT sold for about $6,800, much more than contemporary Porsches and Jaguars. It is believed that no profit was made on the cars despite their high price; they were more concept cars and a demonstration of ability than a true production vehicle. About 60 cars reached North America and the others were similarly thinly spread worldwide.
Toyota entered the 2000GT in competition at home, coming third in the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix and winning the Fuji 24-Hour Race in 1967. In addition, the car set several world records for speed and endurance in a 72-hour test.

Carroll Shelby would also enter a pair of 2000GTs to compete in the SCCA production car races competing in the CP category.

Two 2000GTs were remodeled to convertibles and featured in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. One is displayed at Toyota's headquarters today while the other is in a private collection of a Toyota executive. (When the Encore movie channel aired James Bond films in early 2005, a 2000GT convertible which was located in South Africa was in the process of a restoration for the Cars of the Stars museum.)
On Sailor Moon, Haruka Tenoh (Sailor Uranus) drives a yellow 1968 convertible model (in spite of the fact that a 2000GT convertible was never commercially available).
2000GT's made appearances in the TV series The Ugliest Girl in Town and Hawaii Five-0.
In the Japanese TV drama Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, the character Hiroyuki Kaneda drives a white 2000GT.
The Toyota 2000GT was driven by the character Ken, leader of 'Yesterday Once More' in the Japanese Anime Crayon Shin-Chan Movie 'The Adult Empire Strikes Back'
In the second season of the Japanese TV drama "Hana Yori Dango", the character Hanazawa Rui drives a white 2000GT.
In the 2004 Japanese TV drama "Pride", the character Tomo owns a red 2000GT, which he lends to his friend Yamato to drive on a date.
In éX-Driver episode #2 "On and On", a white 2000GT can be seen as Souichi Sugano walks around the éX-Driver garage.
In Gate Keepers, A.E.G.I.S. has a blue and white 2000GT with modified fascia, codenamed UP-15, otherwise known as the Yota-Hachi. It is powered by a Gate Engine, and is for Syun Ukiya's use. It was totally wrecked when his daughter Ayane used it as a bomb to defeat Kikai Shogun and a whole horde of Invaders in Gate Keepers 21. (Edit - the car in Gate Keepers is actually a Sports 800 or S800, known also as UP15 (Model number) or "Yota-Hachi" (Yota = Toyota; & Hachi = .

Although not nowadays quite as well known to the general public as later Japanese sports cars like the Nissan Z, the 2000GT is regarded by many collectors as possibly the first highly collectible Japanese car. As of 2004, good examples can reach very high auction prices, though parts availability is a problem. Some combination of interesting provenance (particularly the first and second owners) and cosmetic perfection seems to be the formula for the highest auction values. Panel fit, overall finish, and interior quality/originality seem to be the primary value factors.

izvor:toyota.com

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The Toyota Celica Supra was a sports car/grand tourer produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Celica Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider.[3] Starting in mid-1986, the Supra (in its third generation, MKIII) became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica. In turn, Toyota also stopped using the prefix Celica and began just calling the car Supra.[4] Due to the similarity and past of the Toyota Celica's name, it is frequently mistaken for the Toyota Supra, and vice versa.

The Supra also traces much of its roots back to the Toyota 2000GT with the main instance being its engine. The first three generations were offered with a direct descendant to the 2000GT's M engine. All four generations of Supra produced have an inline 6-cylinder engine, one of the few piston engine configurations with theoretically perfect mechanical balance, leading to very low vibration from the engine.

The name is a combination of Celica and the word Supra. "Celica" is derived from Latin and its literal translation is "celestial" or "from the heavens". "Supra" is a word that is derived from Latin that stands for "over, above, beyond, or greater than". Therefore, a translation to English would be something like "from above the heavens" for the entire term.

Along with this name and car Toyota also included its own logo for the Supra. It is derived from the original Celica logo (it's just orange instead of blue). Often people think it is some sort of swan, but it more closely resembles a dragon. The logo was on Supras until 1989 when Toyota switched to its current oval company logo.

In 1999, Toyota ceased sales of the Supra in the United States[4] and in 2002 Toyota officially stopped production of the Supra in Japan.


Izvor: Wikipedia

Muscle car na japanski nacin!