This was a new one, as I’ve never read an actual road test of the legendary 2000 GT. At the time this was written, it was understood that the 2000 GT would coming stateside within a year, presumably in semi-reasonable numbers. It did arrive here, but only some 60 units were sold in the US. Presumably it was because the 2000 GT was never intended to be a regular production car, but a classic halo car, to enhance Toyota’s reputation even if it did lose money on the project. There’s no doubt that the desired effect happened; well beyond Toyota’s likely expectations, as the 2000 GT became a cult object from day one.
Road and Track drove a an early version, and found it quite compelling, even if it did exhibit some shortcomings, which they were told would be addressed before US sales started.
There’s also a detailed Technical Analysis after the Road Test.
The most immediate reaction to seeing the 2000 GT in the flesh is noticing just how remarkably small it is, significantly more so than one might assume from photos. It’s similar in size to an NA Miata, but even lower, by several inches. Anyone over six feet is not really welcome, but those that could thread themselves into its cabin would be pleased at the high quality of its materials and assembly. Not really surprising, from the company that built Crowns and such.
The 2 liter six’s block and internals were taken from the Crown, and Yamaha designed and built the lovely DOHC alloy head and those components that made the adaption function. And function it did, happily spinning to 7,000 rpm, except in the case of first gear, when for some reason the tested car’s engine refused to rev past 6300 rpm.
The five gear transmission came in for praise, as did the fully independent suspension, which yielded surprisingly supple ride over dips and sharp bumps. The rear suspension, looking much like one from contemporary racing cars than the more typical semi-trailing IRS, showed that it could handle dumped clutches at the drag strip without any loss of composure of the rear wheels.
The brakes were deemed “impressive”. Steering was light and quick. Ultimate cornering power was not exceptionally high, but more than enough for road driving under any circumstances. This car was built for all-round dynamics, not just ultimate skid pad numbers.
The exceptional interior, superb quality, balanced dynamics, and fine performance made this “one of the most exciting and enjoyable cars we’ve ever driven”, and deemed to be a most capable competitor to the Porsche 911, with which its price was comparable. But its limited production economics resulted it in never being a Porsche competitor, something Zuffenhausen was probably not unhappy about.
Beautiful car. I actually saw one of these, back in 1975, in Lawrence, Kansas, of all places.
I knew a guy who had a couple of 2000GTs about thirty years ago. They were in an old skating rink with a bunch of front-engine Ferraris from the ’60s, assorted Maseratis from the period between when the brothers flew the coop but before Citroen got involved, Ferruccio Lamborghini-era Lamborghinis, Bizzarrinis & Isos, and a few two-seat AMC AMXs. I don’t know if he kept the Toyotas long enough to make real money from them, but they were beautiful cars. Sadly, they were too small for me as a teenager, let alone now.
They were at least as good as Porsche 911s when new, but there wasn’t much point in continuing to develop them back when most of the market for expensive sports cars consisted of men of substance.
The remainder of the test is missing after page 39.
My bad. I was rushing before I headed out to Port Orford. And I can’t fix it until I get back home because those pages are in my desk top PC.
I’ve added page 40 now.
I want to say that it had/cribbed the looks of an E-Type coupe. Which is a very good thing, but at $6800, I would imagine that the Jag was priced similarly and Jaguar had a reputation for building good sports cars for gentlemen, whereas Toyota’s meager reputation in the US was for tiny, underpowered cars and primitive-but-durable tiny trucks.
The Land Cruiser had an admittedly small piece of the 4wd utility market for several years by then, and was hardly tiny. The FJ40 was bigger than the equivalent Jeep CJ.
Sorry I wasn’t clear; I was thinking more of the pickups.
One of the most beautiful designs coming out of Japan. Always admired these. Never knew they had a Lotus-like chassis.
The closest I will ever likely get to one of these is when I watch You Only Live Twice.
The two cars built for the Bond film were the only topless 2000GTs ever built. Don’t call it a “convertible” or “droptop” – there’s no top that can be raised; it’s purely an open car. Rumor has it that these were necessitated by Sean Connery being too tall to fit in the standard model; weird thing is that Connery never drives the car in the movie.
I had heard of the collaboration between Yamaha and Toyota on this engine, but it never really clicked until reading this piece. Since Yamaha had built only two strokes up to this point, and didn’t launch their first four stroke until late 1969 for the 1970 model year, the 650cc XS1 SOHC twin, I did a little digging. Indeed, the motorcycle engine was based on the Toyota’s design, with a shorter stroke but same bore, and same valve sizes and angles in an SOHC head. The Yamaha 650 went on to be a fairly successful bike for about ten years on the market, and branching off into a counterbalanced 750 with 360° crank, which did not share the 650’s reputation for reliability. The 650 lived on after the 750’s demise, but for its flagship road bikes, Yamaha moved on from big twins to triples, then fours. The 650 is still highly regarded today.
There are a couple around where I live in the Nth of Sydney, inc a nice white one I see quite regularly. I didn’t realize they were so rare. Nice for sure, reminds me of a 240Z a friend had when we were young.
I wish I still had a couple of cars I had as a youth inc. a 5 lt V8 Capri with a Toyotas Celica 5 speed box, was very low and very outrageous with a plum red BMW paint job, I was not able to get any more than 225s on it…otherwise it could have taken anything if it also had BMW brakes…was a mental hill climber, cant believe the box survived!. And a 2 door Falcon XB same as Eric Banner’s except I didn’t spend $600,000 on it and it had a nice Fairmont interior and a 351 and a 4 barrel carb. should have heard that baby suck air!
I don’t think I could afford to run it these days, near $2.00 a liter here for juice….
I saw one of these parked at the curb back in the late 60’s in Oakland’s Chinatown. When the Datsun 240Z was released it was as if they had taken the comments made in this road test to heart. Your typical American can easily and comfortably fit in the Z. The ergonomics were perfect. These had a very exotic engine with dohc and cross flow heads, with triple carbs, the Datsun had a six cylinder version of the 510 motor, larger displacement, twin carbs, sohc without the cross flow head. Styling is similar but I feel that the Z is cleaner looking. Most important was Datsun’s ability to deliver the car at a bargain price. The Z was a sensation, it’s like the Toyota was brought over just to prime the pump for the Datsun’s arrival.
Here’s a recent drive of one. This fellow is knowlegeable about the classics he rebuilds. The sound on this thing is worth the effort of watching.
Amazing sound!
The only Toyota I have any interest in. I’ve seen just the one, in Lae, Papua New Guinea. Late 1960s.
Very interesting to see the review. These are beautiful cars.
They have one of these at the Louwman Collection in The Hague, which is a must-visit for anyone coming through the Netherlands.
Ive seen one up close at a car show very small car but beautifully made and I’d guess they handle great on real roads skid pads dont resemble the reality of bumpy broken pavement condition our typical secondary roads have go to,