As the Japanese worked tirelessly on their way back from the war, they also worked their way through merely mobilizing the masses all the way to give them some flair. Nissan fired the first shots with their Datsun Fairlady/Sports lineup, followed by Honda with their chain-driven S500. Toyota also got their own small car off the ground, and it’s considered so good they’re still working on it.
The first glimpse of what eventually would become the Sports 800 was shown in 1962 as the Toyota Publica Sports concept. Like most concept cars that eventually made it into production, most of the design language was there, but there are a couple of radical details. Chief among which was that bubble top. But the engine fitted on it was also worthy of note. A 700cc Boxer twin mated to dual carbs. It was the same engine fitted to the normal Publica and only produced 28 horsepower, which even on something as small and light as this wasn’t enough. It was never going to work on that form, no matter how much everyone with sci-fi on their mind wanted it to. First order of business, the roof.
One of the best things about writing for CC is that I end up learning tons of new and extremely interesting stuff. For instance; did you know that the first vehicle with a Targa top was British? Porsche would take the idea and slap the Targa name on it for their own, perhaps more successful, 911. But the first vehicle to ever have a removable roof section while keeping a full rollbar behing is the Triumph you see above. The TR4 Surrey Edition. Considering they offered a 1991cc engine as a no-cost option for sub 2-litre racing, you can see why they would like to make their cars that tiny little bit safer. Toyota took that idea and worked with it. The sports 800 itself beat the targa to production by a year.
As far as the engine is concerned, it was an evolution of the U engine fitted to the concept, internally known as the 2U-C. It was still an air-cooled twin with dual carbs, but now it displaced 790cc and produced 40 Horsepower, or 70% more than the one in the concept car. This, combined with a petite weight of only 576kg (1,268lb) thanks to the use of aluminum on body panels and the seat frames meant a top speed of 100MPH. The same as the much more powerful Honda S800.
The U-Series line of engines was retired after the 2U, the engine itself was produced until 1976 and used as an Auxiliary engine to run the Air Conditioning on the Dyna Coaster buses of the time. But recently Toyota has come along a new Boxer engine. The 2.0-liter in the GT86 was designated 4U-GSE, bringing the series back and adding yet another heritage nod to the car itself.
The total production run between 1965 and 1969 was of 3131 units. Most of them were kept in their native Japan. But our featured model, caught by Jim Klein at the 2009 Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, CA is a very special model. One of only about 300 that were made in left hand drive. Toyota was studying the viability of the Sports 800 stateside and brought some of them for test drives. I don’t know the results of these test drives, but I’m guessing they weren’t very successful because the Sports 800 was never officially imported to the United States. The costly lessons of the Crown in the American market were still fresh on their heads, so they may have also just decided to play it safe at the last minute. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Sports 800 was loved and earned the nickname of “Yota-Hachi”.
On the e-mails that Jim and I exchanged he emphasized his disbelief at the petite size of the 800. It may be 20 inches longer (140.9) and two inches wider (57.7) than the original Mini, but the wheelbase is shorter by two inches (78.7) and lower by seven (46.3). It’s not the sort of thing you want to drive if you’re going to be surrounded by trucks. Or Full-size sedans for that matter. But its small size and light weight meant it was a good base for alternative energies.
In 1979, Toyota Took a Sports 800 and got rid of the engine and gearbox to replace it with a 30HP (And we’re back to the power figures of the concept) gas turbine. The Toyota Sports Gas Turbine Hybrid that resulted worked like a Diesel-Electric locomotive or the Fisker Karma. The engine itself wasn’t connected to the wheels, rather to a generator, and then to the electric motor that actually powered the wheels.
And in 2011 students at the Toyota Technical College in Tokyo presented this, a full-electric Sports 800, called the Toyota Sports EV Twin. Twin means it has two electric engines. Thanks to the lithium-ion batteries the weight has done up a bit (700kg), but the top speed remains at 100MPH and a maximum range of 62 miles.
The sports 800 never had a direct successor, the 2000GT sold at the same time or any of the sports cars that followed afterwards were too big and had other market in mind. The closest I can think of was the MR2. In the Japanese market you also had the Suzuki Cappuccino, which owes more than a little to the 800 as far as styling and approach is concerned. But despite having no heir, it was still the first of what would become four decades of uninterrupted sports cars. With the GT86 bringing forth a second wave of them(although it hasn’t been selling quite as well as Toyota hoped) it might be more than a heir to the Sports 800 than we imagined.
Gerardo; thanks for this. I’ve written about the similarly-small Honda S500/600/800, and was aware of the Toyota Sports 800, but I have never really read an article about it. I can’t say that about many other cars. So I’ve gotten an education today. And what a cute little bug it is.
When on deployment in Japan in the early 80s I caught sight of a model kit for this car in a hobby shop. I bought the kit even though I’m not a huge Toyota fan and wasn’t even a fan of Japanese cars…but I figured I wouldn’t see another kit, again.
Still haven’t seen this car, except in pictures.
I could be wrong, but Toyota has “updated” this idea a few times over the years and/or has a recent concept car in this vein.
Great informative, as always, Gerardo.
That pic with the great 2000GT and the 800 Sport is great… But that Scion FR-S, posing as a “Toyota Great” is hogwash.
That car is NOT a Toyota, more like a rebadged Subaru… It has a Subaru boxer engine and was primarily designed and styled by Subaru.
As a former AE86 owner, that car is not even related in any way, shape or form.
That car is more closely related to the wedge shaped Subaru XT coupe.
If it walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck… Guess what?
What did Toyota add to the collaboration, a few badges?
Give us a PROPER Toyota-made RWD sport coupe, Toyota… Stop being lazy.
Subaru is owned by Toyota.
But it does look crap compared to the Celicas of old.
Subaru is not owned by Toyota.
Toyota holds a 16.5% share of Subaru… Kind of a big difference.
You might want to check those numbers. Toyota owns a lot more than 16.5% of Subaru.
Well, how much is it? I’m trying to find out, but can’t find any updates on Toyota’s shares.
I know Nissan was a shareholder of Subaru, I think in the later 60’s- 70’s… Till Renault’s involvement with Nissan.
I agree that the 86 has no apparent connection to the AE86 at all, but if we want to be really particular about pedigree, the old 2000GT wasn’t a ‘real’ Toyota either — it was substantially designed by Yamaha, as I recall, which also did the heads for most of Toyota’s early DOHC engines.
Toyota’s in-house sporty coupes tend to be spinoffs of existing sedan platforms, so at this point, a new ‘proper’ Toyota coupe would likely be like the Scion tC or the old Solara.
AteUp…
It really does suck that Toyota teases us with RWD and AWD sport coupes, label it as “Supra Concept”… Well, not Toyota, but the “spy” reporters and then…
Toyota ends up producing it as a Lexus or a Scion.
Is it THAT impossible to bring back a fun to drive RWD coupe and have it styled by Toyota, with an engine BY Toyota?
It’s not as if we’re asking GM to resurrect the Trans Am, without it’s parent, Pontiac around to sell it.
And why don’t you think that the current Lexus RC isn’t a legitimate Supra successor? It sure seems like it to me, and it’s even cheaper than the later Supras were.
And who cares whether it says “Toyota” on it or not?
Like I said, Paul… Whenever Toyota produces a competent sporty coupe, it either goes under the Lexus or Scion camp.
I love the Lexus RC and IS coupes, btw.
Yes, I know and believe Toyota is more than capable of producing such car… Why they are resting on their laurels and NOT adding one to their lineup is baffling to me and other Toyota enthusiasts.
The Camaro, Challenger and Nissan Z all came back from being on hiatus, why the difficulty with the Supra?
Wait what? Just how expensive was a Supra when new?
I care… as well as other people who would like to purchase it AS a Toyota.
Maybe you don’t, Paul… But plenty of Toyota loyal, who DON’T want the higher Lexus insurance premium or snob factor do.
It sucks to keep hearing Toyota being referred to as the “Japanese Oldsmobile”, because everything in their lineup since 2000, has been geriatric.
The A80 Supra limped to the end of its life with dismal, dismal sales, and while the revived Fairlady Z had been doing pretty well, I have some question about whether there would be enough room in that segment (which is much smaller than it was in the ’80s) for two or three players. It’s the same reason there aren’t usually a lot of direct competitors for the Miata; Miata sales aren’t bad, but that niche isn’t big enough to sustain several major players. If Toyota thought they could make money on a revived Supra, they would have done it by now.
I find baffling the insistence that Toyota is somehow conspiring to keep sporty cars out of the Toyota brand. They have other brand priorities — the reason the RC is marketed as a Lexus is that Toyota is trying to combat the sedate image of the Lexus brand, which has been a growing problem for them, and the reason North American versions of the 86 are badged as Scions (which is U.S. and probably Canada-specific — the car is sold as a Toyota in Japan and Europe) is that Toyota is still trying to prop up the Scion brand for reasons that escape me. (Given its sales record to date, I’m not at all sure why they’re bothering, but apparently someone thinks it’s important.) However, having other brand priorities does not equal some willful effort to make Toyota boring, which given marketing logic would be nonsensical.
Gerardo: The last Supra ended up in the mid-$40K range, with a Supra Turbo potentially topping $50,000 U.S. That’s low-$70K adjusted, which is a major reason it died.
Oh. That’s it then, the RC actually *is* the new Supra. Well, from the RC300 ($42,610) and up. The RC200t….no.
GM tried to resurect the Pontiac performance coupe by importing one from Aussie it didnt sell so why bother.
Was using Pontiac/Trans Am as a metaphor, Bryce.
Yep, Chevy also tried to bring back the G8 as the Chevy SS… It still hasn’t sold well.
I think Toyota will actually have much better luck If they DID bring back the Supra.
The difference there is the revival GTO looked like an inflated Cavalier. The Monaro on which it was based wasn’t ugly, but it certainly wasn’t beautiful either and bore a strong resemblance to a certain dated compact coupe. So I don’t really consider it a valid data point as a sports coupe/muscle car needs to look the part.
The lack of sales of the G8/SS, on the other hand, do back up your point.
Plus, the fact that GM put the name of an American icon on a foreign car… Yep, “foreign”, was blasphemy to some true Pontiac fans.
My buddy had a red 04 GTO, the premiere year , sans hood scoops. It was a FAST car, and the Monaro platform is very capable and handled like it was on rails…
But that J-car styling was unmemorable in a sea of Cavaliers, Tiburons and Ford ZX2s.
Yank that engine, and throw it into a REAL American LeMans or Tempest.
Returning to the topic, I honestly think Toyota might have better luck with a quirky-looking, small, relatively inexpensive sporty car like the Sports 800, perhaps based on the Aygo platform. It wouldn’t be a sports coupe in the Supra mold, but a cute/funky-looking little coupe with a modern engine and a price tag in the realm of the Corolla might win some sales from the kind of buyers who like the FIAT 500 and MINI, but are uneasy about the Italian reputation of the former and get sticker shock on the options for the latter.
They’re working on it, the Toyota S-FR. Alleged price if it were to be sold in Japan: $12,500
NICE….. I like that.
Now, that car is what Toyota needs… A fun little sportster with good fuel economy.
Make it a 2-seater with an optional 2+2, like they offered in the Datsun/Nissan Z cars and in the FC 80’s Mazda RX7s.
Ribbit.
In terms of quirky little bubbletop Toyota, the Sera comes to mind, but that was larger.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/curbside-classic-toyota-sera-%E2%80%93-wings-dont-make-it-fly/
Yup, something like that, although the Sera wasn’t sold in North America when new.
Yet, another JDM Toyota, us Americans were denied.
I’m starting to feel like I live on the Land of Misfit Toys… The US always gets denied the fun, sporty, more powerful cars(Mazda Cosmo Turbos, new VW Scirocco, etc). 🙁
I always did like the Sera… Wanted to import one thru Canada, 5 years ago, but too much paperwork involved.
Nice read Gerardo. I found this early sketch during my online wanderings in the past.
Nifty little cars, though I never knew they existed until about 10 years ago (wasn’t this car in one of the Gran Turismo PS3 titles?)
Great writeup too–I never knew that Triumph produced a targa version of the TR4!
We have some of these cars in Portugal. LHD too. Fewer now than before though… For example this one was restored here and then exported: http://bringatrailer.com/2015/12/05/nicest-weve-seen-freshly-restored-1967-toyota-sports-800/
We’re loosing all our cars due to poverty, basically! So sad. 🙁
As for the car itself I like it but my classic keicar money would be spent on a Honda Sports. It’s just so much more exciting with that jewel of an engine… The Toyota is kind of meh…