Toyota is best known for building sturdy daily drivers—the ubiquitous Corolla is the best-selling vehicle model of all time—but the Japanese marque never has rested on its reliability laurels. The recently revealed Gazoo Racing (GR) GT is poised to compete with the likes of Porsche for elite sports car sales upon arrival in 2027, and its race-built GR GT3 sibling will run with some the world’s fastest machines in the FIA circuit that same year.
But decades before Gazoo Racing was formed, Toyota proved its potential to build top-performing machines with the 2000GT. The project was offered to Toyota after Nissan reneged on a deal with Yamaha to produce the vehicle, which went on to go down in Japanese automotive history as the country’s first supercar. Its Toyota Crown-sourced 2.0-liter inline-six was heavily modified by Yamaha with Double Overhead Cams and three Mikuni Solex carburetors to up the output to 150 horsepower, good for a top speed of 135 mph.
Four-wheel power-assisted disc brakes, an independent coil suspension at all corners, a low center of gravity, long-nose styling reminiscent of the Jaguar E-Type’s, and a rosewood veneer dash crafted by Yamaha’s piano-making division made the 2000GT positively exotic in its day—so much so that it was featured prominently in You Only Live Twice, albeit with its roof removed by Toyota just for the movie to accommodate 6-foot-2-inch OG James Bond Sean Connery.
Only 351 were produced from 1967 to 1970, contributing to a rarity that’s helped the 2000GT become a holy-grail car for Japanese collectors. And the example seen here, currently up for online auction at Bring a Trailer, benefits from some intriguing provenance. After traveling through homes in Mozambique, South Africa, the U.S., Costa Rica (where it got its Solar Red refinish), and the U.K., it was purchased by its current owner, three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal, under whose ownership it won its class at the 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
The car was refreshed multiple times throughout its life, with most recent efforts including the rebuilds of the calipers, reconditioning of the rotors, a rebuilt steering rack, and shock/spring replacement in 2015. The odometer shows around 48,000 miles.
According to Hagerty, prices for the Toyota 2000GT have consistently increased over the past 5 years. In Concours condition such as this, the classic car insurance agency lists a value of $1.2 million. At the time of writing, the current bid was listed at $751,251 with four days left, but expect that figure to reach beyond seven figures in the final hours of the auction.
